MISL 2 Milwaukee Wave

Milwaukee Wave Weekly

Published on April 4, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Milwaukee Wave News Release


MILWAUKEE (April 4, 2005) – The Milwaukee Wave split a pair of road games last week, falling 6-3 to the Kansas City Comets (3/31) before taking a 5-2 decision against the Cleveland Force (4/2). The Wave remains in first place in the Major Indoor Soccer League with a record of 21-12 and will return to the friendly confines of "The Cell," U.S. Cellular Arena this Friday to host the Philadelphia KiXX after a two week period with no home games.

This upcoming weekend will be an important one for the Wave, as it faces the KiXX in a back-to-back home/away series. The KiXX will first travel to Milwaukee for a 7:00 p.m. game on Friday night (4/8) for the final regular season game between the two teams at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Wave will then head to The City of Brotherly Love for a 6:00 p.m. match-up against the KiXX on Saturday night (4/9). The back-to-back weekend is significant for both teams as just two games currently separate them heading into the final regular season stretch.

Milwaukee and Philadelphia are currently the only two teams to have secured a spot in the 2005 post season.

This Week's Itinerary:

Monday, April 4 – weight training 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 5 – Day Off

Wednesday, April 6 – Practice 10 a.m. @ U.S. Cellular Arena, weight training 1:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 7 – Practice 10 a.m. @ U.S. Cellular Arena

Friday, April 8 – Wave vs. KiXX, 7:00 p.m. – U.S. Cellular Arena

Saturday, April 2 – Wave @ KiXX, 6:00 p.m. – Wachovia Spectrum

*Subject to change

Injury Report:

Player Injury Status Sinisa Alebic Toe Probable

Troy Dusosky Knee Out - IR

Dan Green Shin Probable

Ricardinho Ankle Probable

Wave vs. Philadelphia KiXX 2004-05 Series: 3-1

Overall: 21-15

Friday night's contest in Milwaukee will mark the fifth meeting between the Wave and KiXX, and Saturday's match-up in Philadelphia will be the sixth and final time the two teams will meet in the regular season. Philadelphia won the first match between the two clubs 6-3 on December 18, but the Wave has battled back to win the last three to take a 3-1 advantage in the season series. The teams last met on March 6 in Milwaukee, with the Wave earning a 6-5 overtime victory. The KiXX rallied back from a 5-2 deficit to send the game into overtime before Greg Howes collected the golden goal at 9:39 of the extra session to propel the Wave to victory. Howes had two goals and Chris Morman, Giuliano Oliviero and Hewerton each added a goal and an assist in the game. Philadelphia was led by John Nusum with a goal and two assists and Ptah Myers who added two goals. The Wave has also secured a 7-5 victory (1/14) and a 6-2 decision (2/16) this season against the KiXX.

Last Time Out: 3-31 @ Kansas City – The Kansas City Comets collected two quick goals by Casey Stevens and James Koehler late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead heading into the second quarter. The Comets increased its lead with a goal by Justin Evans off the assist from Ibrahim Kante. Milwaukee got on the board when Giuliano Oliviero found Ricardinho for the power play goal at 7:11 of the second stanza. Making a quick come-back early in the third, Milwaukee's Todd Dusosky passed it off to Matt Schmidt for the goal just inside the far post at 0:49. Nearly one minute later (1:37), Marcelo Fontana blasted the ball into the back of the net off the assist from captain Michael King. The Comets surged ahead, collecting three unanswered fourth quarters goals by Koehler, Evans and Jamar Beasley to take the 6-3 victory.

4-2 @ Cleveland Force – Greg Howes and Lovelace Ackah each chipped in two goals to secure a 5-2 victory for the Wave. Howes started off the scoring late in the first quarter when he sent a low bouncer past Force keeper Jim Larkin off the assist from Marcelo Fontana. Cleveland responded with a goal from Antonio Sutton just 10 seconds into the second period. Back-to-back goals within a minute by Matt Schmidt and Ackah gave the Wave a 3-1 lead heading into the intermission. The Force collected a quick short handed goal by Gary DePalma at 0:29 to start out the third. Ackah and Howes both collected their second goals of the match midway through the third to close out the scoring for the match.

Wave Clinches Spot in 2005 Playoffs: The Milwaukee Wave has secured a spot in the 2005 Major Indoor Soccer League post-season for the twelfth consecutive season under the direction of head coach Keith Tozer. In those twelve years, the Wave has won three league titles (1997-98, 1999-2000, 2000-01) and has made six Championship Series appearances. The Wave currently boasts the best record in the MISL at 21-12 and holds a two-game lead over the second place Philadelphia KiXX. Milwaukee and Philadelphia are the only two teams to clinch a spot in the 2005 playoffs thus far. This season the playoffs take on a new look, with the top four teams qualifying. The four teams will compete in a two-game, home and away series (April 29-May 1), 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.

**If Milwaukee wins both matches this weekend against Philadelphia and the Cleveland Force loses two of its three matches and the St. Louis Steamers lose one of its two games, the Wave would be the 2004-05 MISL Regular Season Champion.

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.

Howes Looks to Repeat as MVP: Howes once again has been an instrumental part of the Wave's success, his stats make that clear. In the 11 Wave losses this season, the 27-year-old has only collected seven points, in four of the losses he had no points and he did not play in one because of U.S. National Futsal team commitments. In the 22 Wave wins this season, he has knocked in 50 points, including 16 games in which he has scored at least two points or more. The Tacoma, Washington native leads the MISL in several categories including points (57), goals (34), restart goals (6) and game-winning goals (5). 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. Howes was held scoreless for the first time in nine appearances on Thursday night (3/31) against the Comets, but bounced back to record two goals and an assist in a 5-2 victory against the Force on Saturday (4/2). In total, he has tallied 23 goals and 11 assists in his last 11 appearances.

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 19th win between the posts on Saturday, April 2 and continues to lead the league in goals against average (3.69) and save percentage (.766). He has won 10 of his last 11 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 six 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 24 points on 13 goals and 11 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 (449), points (1312), goals (514) and assists (301). His career totals are games played (719), points (1594), goals (687) and assists (394).

Wave Defense Holds Strong at Top of the League: Milwaukee currently boasts the top defensive attack behind MISL leading goalkeeper Nick Vorberg with a 3.69 goals-against average. Vorberg has recorded 19 wins in 26 appearances between the posts for the Wave. The team also leads the league in goals against average, allowing opponents to convert just 4.2 goals per game on average; the next lowest teams are Philadelphia (5.2) and St. Louis (5.4). Milwaukee is also the most effective in the league on the man down team, killing an opponents power play 68% of the time. The Wave has also held opponents to just 41 goals in its last 10 games, while Milwaukee's offense has exploded for 73 goals.

Check out the Milwaukee Wave Statistics

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from April 4, 2005


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