MISL 2 Milwaukee Wave

Milwaukee Wave weekly

Published on March 28, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Milwaukee Wave News Release


MILWAUKEE (March 28, 2005) – The Milwaukee Wave enjoyed the holiday weekend off with no games scheduled. This week the team continues preparation for back-to-back road games against the Kansas City Comets (3/31) and the Cleveland Force (4/2). The Wave will travel to Kansas City for a midweek game with the Comets this Thursday (7:00 p.m.) at Kemper Arena, before heading to Cleveland to battle the Force for the first time this season on the road on Saturday (6:00 p.m.).

Following the idle weekend, the Wave still holds onto first place in the Major Indoor Soccer League standings with a record of 20-11. Milwaukee currently owns a two-game lead over the second place Philadelphia KiXX. Greg Howes also maintained the top spot in the Spalding Scoring Champions Race at 54 points on 29 goals and 22 assists and Nick Vorberg's 3.70 gaa and .761 save percentage hold strong in the number one spot.

This Week's Itinerary:

Monday, March 28 – 10:00 a.m. practice @ U.S. Cellular Arena

Tuesday, March 29 – 10:00 a.m. practice @ U.S. Cellular Arena, weight training 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 30 – Practice 10 a.m. @ Uihlein Soccer Park

Thursday, March 31 – Wave @ Comets, 7:00 p.m. – Kemper Arena

Friday, April 1 – Travel Day

Saturday, April 2 – Wave @ Force, 6:00 p.m. – Wolstein Convocation Center

*Subject to change

Injury Report:

Player Injury Status Sinisa Alebic Toe Doubtful

Troy Dusosky Knee Out - IR

Dan Green Shin Questionable

Ricardinho Ankle Questionable

Wave vs. Kansas City Comets 2004-05 Series: 4-0

Overall: 45-28

The Wave currently leads the season series 4-0 against the Comets and hopes to complete the season sweep in the fifth and final regular season meeting between the two clubs on Thursday. The two teams last met on Sunday, March 13 at "The Cell," with the Wave taking a 10-3 victory; the ten-point output is the highest by the Wave this season. Greg Howes had a hat trick and added an assist, while Todd Dusosky converted the game-winner and added a team season high four assists in his return to the Wave line-up. The teams also met in a back-to-back series in Kansas City (2/25, 2/26). The Wave swept the weekend series, taking an 8-3 decision on 2/25 and a 6-1 victory on 2/26. Howes paved the way for Milwaukee, collecting 8 goals and four assists for 12 points in the two games. Overall against the Comets this season, Howes has tallied 12 goals and six assists for 18 points. Goalkeeper Nick Vorberg has also been solid between the posts against Kansas City, stopping 48-of-60 shots faced in four meetings. The Wave also won the first meeting between the two teams 7-5 on November 6 in Milwaukee, when Michael King collected a hat trick and Johnny Torres added a goal and an assist.

Wave vs. Cleveland Force

2004-05 Series: 1-1

Overall: 27-19

The Milwaukee Wave and Cleveland Force will meet for the third time this season on Saturday night (4/2) at 6:00 p.m. The two teams have not faced one another since January 22 when the Force outlasted the Wave 4-3 in overtime at ‘The Cell." The teams traded goals throughout regulation as Giuliano Oliviero collected the tying goal with more than two minutes remaining in the final period. The Force caught a break in the first overtime period, when a Wave clearance deflected off the back of Cleveland's Robbie Aristodemo and into the back of the net past a helpless Vorberg. The Wave won the first match between the two clubs on November 13 at the U.S. Cellular Arena by a score of 6-5. Greg Howes led the Wave, collecting two goals and an assist, while Marcelo Fontana added two goals, including the game-winner in the overtime period. Nick Vorberg recorded the win in goal for Milwaukee, stopping 11-of-16 shots faced. Robbie Aristodemo converted two goals for the Force and Fred DeGand tallied two assists. The Wave and Force will meet two more times in the regular season: on 4/17 in Milwaukee and 4/23 in Cleveland.

Last Time Out: 3-20 vs. St. Louis – The Steamers got on the board first with a goal by D.J. Newsom off the assist from Mariano Bollella. Greg Howes responded with back-to-back goals to give the Wave a 2-1 lead early in the second period. St. Louis recent acquisition Chile Farias then tallied an unassisted goal to tie the game. Santos, Brazil native Hewerton collected consecutive goals in the third period to give the Wave a two-goal lead. The Steamers were able to battle back to cut the Wave lead to 4-3 with a goal by Bollella at 10:52 off the assist from Randy Soderman. The Wave responded with a goal as Howes found Todd Dusosky at the top of the arc for the score at 13:14. The Wave capitalized on a St. Louis tripping penalty by Marco Lopez midway through the final period, as Giuliano Oliviero slid the ball to Michael King at the mouth of the goal for the power-play score at 6:45. The Steamers collected a sixth attacker goal at the 13:35 mark as Farias found Lopez for the score past Wave keeper Nick Vorberg. However, it was the only offense the Steamers could muster in the final period, preserving a 6-4 Milwaukee win.

Milwaukee to Host MISL Championship Game One: Milwaukee Wave Chief Operating Officer Mike Lafferty and the Major Indoor Soccer League announced that the city of Milwaukee has been chosen to host the first match in the 2005 MISL Championship Series Finals on May 14 at 7:35 p.m. at "The Cell," U.S. Cellular Arena. The format for the finals is a two-game series in which the city of St. Louis has been chosen to host the second match on May 21 at the Savvis Center. If the two teams in the Championship Series Finals split the series, a "golden-goal" overtime period will determine the 2005 MISL Champion. The Semifinal Round of playoffs is the weekend of April 29-May 1. The top four teams in the MISL compete in a two-game, home and away series, with the No. 4 seed drawing the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 meeting the No. 3. The higher seed reserves the right to choose home field for either game one or game two. Should the semifinalists split their two games, a "golden-goal" overtime period determines the series winner, which advances to the MISL Championship Series Finals.

Offensive Production at a High Against Comets: This season the Wave has outscored the Comets 31-12 in the four meetings between the two clubs. The +19 advantage against Kansas City is the highest goal differential between Milwaukee and an opponent in a 2004-05 team vs. team series (+13 vs. BAL, +6 vs. STL, +4 vs. PHI, +1 vs. CLE, -2 vs. CHI) . The Wave enjoyed its finest offensive output of the season, 10 goals, against the Comets the last time the teams met on March 13 in Milwaukee. In total, Milwaukee has outscored opponents 173-132 in its 31 games played this season. Overall, the Wave is tied for third in goals for, averaging 5.6 per game (CLE 6.0, CHI 5.7, PHI 5.6).

Howes Looks to Repeat as MVP: The 27-year-old Tacoma, Washington native leads the MISL in several categories including points (54), goals (32), game-winning goals (5) and restart goals (6). The forward surged to the top of the rankings following a 12-point weekend in back-to-back games (2/25, 2/26) against Kansas City and has now scored at least two points in the last nine Wave games. In total, he has tallied 21 goals and 10 assists in his last nine appearances. In a 6-5 loss to the Steamers (3/3), Howes tallied a goal and an assist for two points. He continued his offensive attack in Sunday's match (3/20) against the Steamers, collecting two goals and two assists to lead the team.

Goalkeeper of the Year in the Making: Wave goalkeeper Nick Vorberg has been impressive in goal all season for the Wave, but as of late has surged ahead of his fellow MISL keepers, making him a likely candidate to win ‘Goalkeeper of the Year.' It would be the first such honor in Vorberg's six-year career. The 29-year-old earned his league leading 18th win between the posts on Sunday, March 20 and continues to lead the league in goals against average (3.70) and save percentage (.761). He has won nine of his last ten games in goal for Milwaukee, including a six-game winning streak that helped Milwaukee vault into the top spot in the MISL. Vorberg was also named the ‘Goalkeeper of the Month' in December and February.

King Closes in on 1600 Career Points: Milwaukee Wave team captain, Michael King is closing in on yet another bench mark in his illustrious MISL career as he needs just seven points in order to reach the 1600 career points mark (includes seasons with multiple point and single point scoring). He currently is tied for fourth in team scoring with 23 points on 14 goals and nine assists. The 41-year old also appeared in his 700th regular season game on December 3, 2004 against the Chicago Storm, making him just the fourth player to reach the milestone. He holds several Wave records, including games played (447), points (1311), goals (515) and assists (299). His career totals are games played (717), points (1593), goals (688) and assists (392).

Wave Defense Holds Strong at Top of the League: Milwaukee currently boasts the top defensive attack behind MISL leading goalkeeper Nick Vorberg with a 3.70 goals-against average. Vorberg has recorded 18 wins in 24 appearances between the posts for the Wave. The team also leads the league in goals against average, allowing opponents to convert just 4.3 goals per game on average; the next lowest teams are Philadelphia and St. Louis with a 5.4 gaa. Milwaukee is also the most effective in the league on the man down team, killing an opponents power play 69% of the time. The Wave has also held opponents to just 33 goals in its last eight games, while Milwaukee's offense has exploded for 65 goals.

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 28, 2005


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