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Blast, Wave Meet in Championship Rematch

February 1, 2012 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) News Release


TAMPA, Fla. - Coming off his 700th victory in indoor soccer last Sunday, Milwaukee Wave coach Keith Tozer and his side face a marquee clash as the Baltimore Blast come to U.S. Cellular Arena this Saturday night that highlights this week's three-game slate of MISL games.

A rematch of the 2011 MISL Championship Game, which the Wave won 16-7, Saturday night's contest will also be an opportunity to gain some revenge against the Blast for dashing their hopes of an undefeated regular season in December. On New Year's Eve the Blast rallied from an early deficit, scoring nine unanswered points as they held the Wave scoreless for more than 50 minutes to take a 9-4 victory.

The game is also a crucial one as the Blast and Wave, leaders of the MISL Eastern and Central Divisions respectively, compete for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. With both teams having sealed their berths in the postseason with a pair of victories last week, the Blast (13-4) will try to gain ground on the Wave (14-2) for the right to potentially host the second game of the 2012 MISL Championship Series.

Before they head to Milwaukee, though, the Blast face the Norfolk SharX tonight at 1st Mariner Arena looking to seal home-field advantage for the Eastern Division Finals. Leading the Rochester Lancers by 5.5 games, and holding the tiebreaker after sweeping the regular season series, the Blast can clinch tonight. Led by January's MISL Goalkeeper of the Month Sagu, who earned the award for the second time this season earlier today, the Blast will be hopeful of getting victory in front of another big crowd.

MISL continues to score at the box office in both its established and new markets, with a total attendance surpassing the 235,000 mark last weekend. The league remains on course to pass the 300,000 mark by the end of the regular season, marking a 50 percent increase from the 2010-11 season.

Saturday evening's game in Milwaukee, and the first trip of the Rochester Lancers to Hartman Arena to face the Wichita Wings on Saturday night, figure to add to those totals, with the playoff races heating up in both of the league's divisions.



Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from February 1, 2012


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