Silver Knights Close Road Trip with Loss to Wave
December 31, 2013 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
Syracuse Silver Knights News Release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Silver Knights (6-3, MISL #2) lost their second straight road game against the Milwaukee Wave (6-1, MISL #1) on Tuesday, getting a pair of hat-tricks from FW's Ian Bennett and Carlos Munoz to beat the New York side 20-10 at U.S. Cellular Arena.
Tuesday's loss drops the Silver Knights to 0-8 all time against the Wave, including a winless 0-4 mark in the state of Wisconsin. The result keeps Syracuse at the second spot in the MISL standings behind Milwaukee, but both Baltimore and Missouri have three games in hand.
The Orange, Silver and Black got off to a rough start, trailing less than two minutes into the game. The Wave's MF Jonathan Greenfield split the Knights' defense to find FW Tenzin Rampa in the penalty area. Rampa made no mistake and slotted home his second goal of the year.
Milwaukee doubled the advantage a minute later when DF Tony Walls found FW Nicolas Perera on a long ball. The striker adjusted his body well to hold off DF Nelson Santana, and even though his first effort was scuffed off the wall, Perera tucked away his own rebound to put the Wave up 4-0.
Luckily for Coach Tommy Tanner, his squad responded almost immediately. Off of the ensuing kickoff, DF Bo Jelovac collected a bouncing ball on the left side of GK Marcel Feenstra's goal and found an unmarked FW Machel Millwood on the back post for an easy tap in.
The Wave nearly took a 6-2 lead at the 7:55 mark on a restart at the top of the penalty arc. Syracuse was a man down as DF Nelson Santana and Neto sat in the box alongside Milwaukee's MF Giuliano Oliviero. In the 4v3 situation, FW Victor Quiroz received a pass in a wide open area in front of the Knights' goal and fired a shot. GK Brian O'Quinn stoned the strike to make one of his 16 saves on the game.
The Knights would draw level after FW Antonio Mafut shimmied past his defender and found himself on a 1v1 with Feenstra. The Dutchman slid in on the 19-year-old and brought him down just outside of the box for a shootout. On the ensuing penalty, FW Kenardo Forbes calmly struck the ball into the back of the net for his first of two goals on the night.
As the quarter ended 4-4, the second period started with a different stretch of play, as Milwaukee began to dominate possession with Syracuse looking to spring the counter attack. Unfortunately for the Salt City side, the defense broke with 7:28 to go in the quarter. Olivero chipped in a ball to the corner that was brought down with a quick touch by Bennet. Shielding himself from the defenders and the boards with little space in between, the forward struck the ball from tough angle to beat O'Quinn between the legs.
Three minutes later, the Wave struck again. Munoz received a pass in his own defensive third and then turned on the after burners, accelerating to the top of the box and launching a laser past a diving Brian O'Quinn. The strike gave Milwaukee the 8-4 edge.
Again, Syracuse responded resolutely. On a restart with 2:48 to go, Chantel put in a sitter at the back post from a Machel Millwood feed for the Jamaican's league-leading 14th assist. As a result, the Knights went into halftime trailing 8-6.
The second half produced another shootout in the sixth minute of the third quarter. Jelovac drove down the right side of the goal against the boards drawing Feenstra off of his line. The Dutchman handled the ball, forcing the official to call the penalty. Again Forbes stepped up and beautifully finished top shelf to equalize at 8-8.
With the game lacking an extra bit of quality, Carlos Munoz was eager to provide it at the 4:59 mark. MF Pablo rocketed a shot that was saved by O'Quinn. Munoz collected the rebound, popped the ball around the defending Nelson Santana and deposited his volley in the top right corner for the first of his two three-point goals. The strike was the beginning of a 12-0 run by the Wisconsin side.
Ian Bennett scored a pair of goals in the streak with the capper coming 26 seconds into the fourth quarter. Marco Leite played a beautifully weighted pass on a restart to Bennett whose shot finished the hat-trick and put the Wave up 15-8.
After a brilliant FW Marcelo Fontana chip with 8:30 to in the final frame, Milwaukee had one more piece of brilliance left, leading 17-8. After a foul just outside of the three point arc, off-center to the left, Munoz put down the ball. Taking a long approach, the New Jersey-native sent the ball into the top right corner, leaving the goalkeeper helpless. The goal finished his hat-trick and put his side up 20-8.
Machel Millwood finished a give-and-go from Kenardo Forbes with 31 seconds left in the game to bring the Knights out of single digits at 20-10.
The Salt City club will return home for the new year. Syracuse's first fixture of 2014 will be a rematch against the Missouri Comets on January 10th at 7:30 p.m. EST. Single game and season tickets are selling fast. To become a Silver Knights Supporter call their office at 315-303-7261 and get your tickets today!
Major Indoor Soccer League Stories from December 31, 2013
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- Silver Knights Close Road Trip with Loss to Wave - Syracuse Silver Knights
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