It was an easy question posed to Blast forward Denison Cabral as he stood outside of the team’s locker room in the bowels of 1st Mariner Arena after a victory over Monterrey on Friday night.
Are you the greatest of all-time in penalty shootout?
But before Cabral, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, could answer, teammate Giuliano Celenza did it for him.
“Yes,” Celenza yelled.
BLAST (7-1) vs. PHILADELPHIA KiXX (3-5)
When: Saturday, 7:35 p.m.
Where: 1st Mariner Arena
Radio: 680 AM
Cabral’s penalty shootout goal — where he lifted the ball over hard-charging Monterrey keeper Jose Bontti — gave the Blast a five-point lead in the third quarter en route to an 8-5 win in a rematch from last season’s Major Indoor Soccer League championship game.
“He’s the tallest goalie I’ve ever played against,” Cabral said of the 6-foot-4, 218-pounder. “I think the guy will have a little more respect for me [now].”
A player is awarded a penalty shootout when the opposition commits a foul that denies a scoring opportunity. The ball is placed in the middle of a yellow line 50 feet from the goal and a player from the attacking team gets a one-on-one against the goalie.
“I knew dribbling on him wouldn’t be a good idea,” Cabral said. “It comes from practice.”
But practice isn’t something Cabral has experienced much of lately. He trained Thursday to see if he could play against Monterrey. It was just his third workout in the past month, one filled with illness and a back injury.
“He didn’t train much this week, but he got treatment,” Blast coach Danny Kelly said. “Obviously, he looked well enough to play, for sure. Him being able to finish shootout goals always is a plus.”
But is Cabral the best penalty shootout taker in indoor soccer history?
Cabral, who holds franchise records for career points (894) and goals (428), is 93-for-166 (56 percent) in shootouts, leaving no doubt in Kelly’s mind who he wants to head to the yellow line.
“I’d say he is the best,” Kelly said. “He’s definitely in the top two or three for sure. For him to be able to do that, when the keeper knows it’s coming, what do you say? He makes it look very easy when it’s a very difficult thing to do. Him being able to convert those situations has won us many games in the past.”
