Indoor soccer: Florida Tropics bolster lineup, sign veteran Vini Dantas
Vini Dantas has been one of the more dangerous target forwards in the Major Arena Soccer League over the past eight years. This past week, the Florida Tropics ensured that Dantas will be a part of their future.
Dantas was signed to a two-year deal with the area MASL team after playing most of his career with the Baltimore Blast.
Starting his career in the 2014-15 season, Dantas earned All-MASL Rookie Team honors. He has since scored 194 goals and added 93 assists in 156 career regular-season and playoff games.
“To have Vini and his championship experience, and to add him into our lineup, is pretty intimidating I think as far as our target play goes,” Florida Tropics head coach Clay Roberts said. “He knows how to win. He understands five players behind the ball is how you win. For him to play the defense he does speaks to his overall approach and importance to the team.”
Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 200 pounds, the Sao Paulo, Brazil native had his best season in 2019-20 when he put up 37 goals and added 17 assists in 22 games. Dantas was traded to the Tacoma Stars prior to the 2020-21 season before being traded back to the Blast with just three games to go in the 2021-22 season.
“Florida and I have been trying to make this work for some time now and I’m extremely excited to join the team,” Dantas said. “They, for the past few years, have been at the top of the league and I hope to help them keep that going. I have many friends that play there, and it will be fun to play with them.”
Bringing in a championship mentality, Dantas was a key cog when the Blast won three-straight MASL championships, scoring the game-winning goal in the finals versus Sonora. He finished that postseason with 18 points — nine goals and nine assists — in nine games.
After advancing to the MASL championship for the first time in team history last spring, the Tropics will begin a seventh season this fall at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Indoor soccer: Florida Tropics bolster lineup, sign veteran Vini Dantas
