One look at the stat sheet and it?s easy to see why the Blast is just one game out of first place in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
The team is tops in the league on the power play, and third in killing the opposition?s man-advantage situations entering Friday night?s game at 8 at league-leading Milwaukee (14-7).
“It?s certainly an important component of the game,” Blast president Kevin Healey said. “When we weren?t doing well, we were down in those areas. I think its something [head coach Danny Kelly] emphasized and made adjustments to.”
The Blast (12-7) has won six straight games, and the team?s success on the power play ? a league-leading 62.2 conversion percent ? is a big reason why. The Blast, which has scored 23 goals in 37 chances, features a balanced attackthat prevents defenses from focusing on stopping a marquee player.
“It can come from anywhere,” said forward Denison Cabral, who leads the league with 10 power play goals. “They can?t cover one person anymore. It used to be pretty easy to mark our power play, but not anymore. We know it?s a good chance to score a goal.”
Cabral credits the team?s potent power play to facing its own penalty-killing defense in practice. The Blast kills 63 percent of the opposition?s power plays, a mark that trails just Chicago (69.2) and Detroit (63.1).
The Blast will face a tough test if Milwaukee gets a power play opportunity, as the Wave has scored on 16 of its 32 chances, a 50 percent conversion rate that is third-best in the nine-team league.
“We know its going to be a long two minutes,” Mike Lookingland said. “We have to grind it out. We need to dig deep, block some more shots. We?ve had the same unit for about two months now, and we have a good understanding of what we want the other team to do and how to play with each other. It?s tough, but we have the hang of it now.”
The Blast allows a league-low 8.6 points per game ? at least one point better than any other team, and three points better than the league average.
“We do very good on the power plays,” goalkeeper Sagu said. “Teams don?t score very many goals on us. We worktogether to try to help the defense.”
The team feels it can change the momentum of a game by shutting down a power play, just as much as it can by successfully converting a man-up opportunity.
To prepare, Lookingland said, the team focuses on blocking shots in practice.
“When you?re a man down, its tough,” Lookingland said. “We take pride in our defense, and even though we?re a man down, we know if we can stop the other team from scoring, it gives our team a boost.”
