Bermudians accounted for five of the 15 goals on Saturday night as John Barry Nusum's Philadelphia KiXX defeated David Bascome's Baltimore Blast 9-6 in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Nusum, recently selected as Male Athlete of the Year, bagged his third hat-trick of the season and one assist in the victory that helped cement his side's place in the play-offs with just seven matches remaining in the season.

Veteran Bascome grabbed two strikes for the Blast but it wasn't enough to boost his side who are now floundering in sixth place with the defending champions looking unlikely to reach a top-four play-off spot due to an injury-hit season.

The KiXX (18-14) snapped a two-game losing streak with the victory over the two-time defending champions Blast (13-17) in front of 6,106 fans at the Wachovia Spectrum.

Rookie Nusum, still on the top scorers' list for the CONCACAF region after his goalscoring exploits against Montserrat in the World Cup qualifiers, was again the star of the show, something Bascome didn't mind.

"I don't like losing, but if you are going to be on a losing team it doesn't hurt as much when you have a Bermudian scoring a hat-trick," said Bascome, who admits his team will have to win seven of their last nine games to join the KiXX in the play-offs.

"It was good to see John Barry do well. He is a big, strong forward and he has adapted well to the game. He is a physical player and has made a great impact ? good luck to him."

Bascome and Nusum were often on the pitch at the same time but rarely came across each other with both playing as forwards for their respective teams. But they did "rub shoulders occasionally".

Nusum's KiXX lie second in the standings with seven games left and are confident of making the play-offs where they will have to play a home-and-away series in the first round before potentially advancing to the three-game series final.