A strong start was all it took for the Baltimore Blast Friday night. Adauto Neto and Giuliano Celenza combined for three goals in the first five minutes and Denison Cabral scored twice to drive Baltimore to an 18-8 victory against the Chicago Storm at 1st Mariner Arena.

“We’ve been creating opportunities,” Baltimore coach Danny Kelly said. “If we’re creating opportunities, it’s only a matter of time before the goals are going to come.”

Stephen Armstrong’s hat trick accounted for all eight of Chicago’s points.

With its fourth consecutive win, Baltimore (10-7) moves into a fourth-place tie with New Jersey.

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The Blast scored on three of their first four shots, taking advantage of two misplays by Chicago goalkeeper Jeff Richey.

Neto began the outburst with a 15-foot goal from inside the penalty zone 1 minute, 35 seconds into the first quarter. A few steps in front of Chicago’s net, Cabral gave a touch pass to Neto, who drove a shot through goalkeeper Richey’s hands for the score.

Celenza followed by stealing a pass from Richey in front of the net for a quick goal 76 seconds later.

Celenza pushed the lead to 6-0 with his second goal. He caught a pass from Blast keeper Sagu at the yellow line, dribbled past two defenders and beat Richey with a 25-foot shot inside the 3-point line.

“They’re not at the top of their game yet, which is good,” said Cabral, referring to Neto and Celenza – both of whom are coming back from injuries sustained earlier this season. “They’re working hard and slowly coming back.”

Armstrong nearly brought the Storm (11-7) all the way back with a 5-0 run. Armstrong finished off a one-timer from Carlos Farias with 2:27 left in the first, and he drilled a free kick into the back of the net for a 3-pointer 27 seconds into the second to make it 6-5.

Armstrong leads the Major Indoor Soccer League with eight 3-pointers – two on Friday.

“The guy’s a good player,” Kelly said.

Cabral’s first 3-pointer of the season gave the Blast a four-point lead with 11 minutes left in the second. Buried in the corner, Blast forward Carlos Garcia found Cabral open on the left wing. Cabral’s shot bounced off the left post and into the goal for a 9-5 lead.

Cabral gave Baltimore scored again with 4:59 left in the third. P.J. Wakefield fed Cabral a right-side pass off the back boards, and the 11-year forward jumped up to meet the ball and sent it past Richey.

Lucio Gonzaga beat Richey to build the Blast’s lead to eight with 2:39 left in the third. Gonzaga came up with a loose ball in the Chicago penalty zone and inched it away from Gabrial Cigliano to set up an eight-foot shot for the 13-5 lead.

Mike Lookingland lofted a 170-foot shot over three Chicago defenders to exploit the empty net and give Baltimore a 16-5 lead with 3:08 to go, and Robbie Aristodemo followed by putting Wakefield’s centering pass into the net two minutes later.

Armstrong’s finished off his hat trick with a 3-pointer off a free kick to make it a 10-point game with 39 seconds left in the fourth.

Sagu made a diving save to take a 3-pointer away from Armstrong with 6:50 left in the third quarter – one of five saves.

Baltimore has given up 30 points during its four-game winning streak, while holding its opposition to three goals in each of the last three games.

“We haven’t given up more than four goals,” Celenza said. “If you do that, obviously you’re going to give yourself a great chance to win, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”