Tampa Bay and Kansas City garnered exhibition victories in preparation for their preseason clash March 5 in Lakeland, Fla.
Tampa Bay scored four goals in the first 22 minutes and coasted to a 4-0 win over FinnPa of the Finnish Premier Division on March 3.
Martin Vasquez had a pair of goals — one on a header from an Ivan McKinley cross, the other off a pass from Giuseppe Galderisi. Frankie Hejduk converted a Steve Ralston pass for another score, and Galderisi himself got into the act with a penalty kick.
Keeper Scott Budnick held the Finns in check in the second half, making several excellent saves.
March 3 in Tampa
Tampa Bay 4 FinnPa (Finland) 0. Goals: Vasquez (McKinley) 8, Hejduk (Ralston) 12, Galderisi (pen.) 15, Vasquez (Galderisi) 22.
Tampa lineup — Dougherty, Hejduk, Backman, Kooiman, Diffley, Ralston, Vasquez, Dos Santos, McKinley, Galderisi, Ferruzi. Subs: Budnick, DuHaney, Guevara, Vargas, Heald, Shannon.
Wizards win a pair
Kansas City rolled to two wins over the weekend. On March 1, the Wizards thrashed the University of Tampa 9-0, behind hat tricks from Ricci Greenwood, Ike Udeh, and newcomer Nebo Bandovic, a former star with the St. Louis Storm in the MSL.
“I thought we played extremely well,” said Kansas City coach Ron Newman. “Tampa made every effort to try and score, but our defense played well.”
The Wizards defeated Lynn University 3-0 in a game on March 3. Greenwood continued his torrid spring, notching two more goals, while Mark Chung hit the third. Chung was playing in defense in place of Sean Bowers, who suffered a foot injury of undetermined severity.
“They (Lynn) were tough buggers, but our guys hung in there early when Lynn had some pressure,” Newman said. “In the second half things started to happen and Ricci and Chung were able to score on their chances.