The Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Kansas City Wizards have exchanged young forwards, as “Sneaky” Pete Marino heads south to Florida while Brian Loftin returns home to the midwest. Marino, 25, has 48 career MLS points (46 of which were earned during the 1996 and 1997 seasons with the Columbus Crew) and is expected to provide depth for the Mutiny front line. Loftin, 26, who played for the Kansas City Attack of the NPSL for four seasons before joining MLS, attended Barstow High School in Kansas City. “Pete definitely gives us a presence around the box,” said Mutiny coach Tim Hankinson. “He has shown an ability to score goals coming off the bench and he should make our front line stronger. He was certainly a vital player in Columbus for two years and in fact led his team in scoring (1997) despite being a non-starter. We believe he’ll be an excellent addition to our team.” Loftin’s soccer career has flourished since 1994, when he earned a spot on the Attack roster by walking in for an open tryout. He was a first-round pick (second overall) of Tampa Bay in the 1998 MLS supplemental draft and played in eight games last season, starting two, and tallied an assist against the Miami Fusion on June 27. Success Abroad for Hurtado, Savarese MetroStars forward Eduardo Hurtado scored two goals to lead Liga Deportivo de Quito to a 7-0 rout over Emelec to win the 1998 Ecuadorian championship. The victory, before 50,000 fans in Quito, clinches a spot in the 1999 Libertadores Cup for Liga de Quito. Hurtado also scored the gamewinner against Aucas to put Liga de Quito in the final. “To win like this in front of all these fans is terrific,” said Hurtado, who had 10 goals and a team-record 14 assists for the MetroStars in ’98. “It makes me cry for joy. I hope we can do this next year in New York.” Hurtado was loaned to Liga Deportivo in his native Ecuador during the current off-season. He will rejoin the MetroStars in mid-January for ’99 preseason preparations that include a two-week playing tour of both Mexico and Italy. Giovanni Savarese, who is currently on loan in his native Venezuela to Union Atletico Tachira, scored three goals in five games down the stretch to lead his San Cristobal-based team to the 1998 Venezuelan Championship. Two of the three goals by Savarese were game winners. Prampin, Karapetyan Undergo Surgery Tampa Bay Mutiny forwards Alan Prampin and Harut Karapetyan have had successful offseason surgery to repair different ailments that plagued them throughout the 1998 MLS season. Prampin had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in early December to clean out debris that had accumulated over time. The Mutiny’s second leading scorer last season (7 goals, 11 assists) saw little or no action during the Mutiny’s seven-week offseason program, but is expected to return to action this week. Karapetyan, acquired off waivers from San Jose on Nov. 2, underwent hernia surgery on his left side in mid-December. He has been rehabbing at his California home and is expected to be in Tampa on Jan. 9.