MISL 2 Milwaukee Wave

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Published on March 8, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Milwaukee Wave News Release


MILWAUKEE (March 8, 2005) – The Milwaukee Wave split its two games last week, falling 6-5 to the St. Louis Steamers on Thursday, (3/3) before rebounding with a 6-5 overtime win against the Philadelphia KiXX on Sunday (3/6). Greg Howes converted the game-winner against the KiXX at 9:39 of the extra session to secure the Wave's fifth overtime victory this season. The Wave remains in first place in the league standings and holds a two-game lead over both Philadelphia and St. Louis.

This week Milwaukee will host the Kansas City Comets on Sunday, March 13 at "The Cell," U.S. Cellular Arena. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. Sunday is also the 5th annual Green Jersey Auction to benefit Children's Hospital. Wave players will be wearing special St. Patrick's Day green jerseys that fans can bid on until the end of halftime. All proceeds from the auction will benefit Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

This Week's Itinerary:
Monday, March 7 – Day Off
Tuesday, March 8 – Day Off
Wednesday, March 9 – Practice 10 a.m. @ Uihlein Soccer Park, weight training 1 p.m.
Thursday, March 10 – Practice 10 a.m. @ Uihlein Soccer Park
Friday, March 4 – Practice 10 a.m. @ Uihlein Soccer Park, weight training 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 13 – Wave vs. Comets – 1:00 p.m. – U.S. Cellular Arena
*Subject to change

Injury Report:
Player Injury Status
Troy Dusosky Knee Out – IR

Wave vs. Kansas City Comets
2004-05 Series: 3-0
Overall: 44-28

Milwaukee and Kansas City will meet for the fourth time this season on Sunday afternoon at "The Cell." The teams met two weeks ago (2/25, 2/26) for a back-to-back series in Kansas City. The Wave swept the weekend series, taking an 8-3 decision on 2/25 and a 6-1 victory on 2/26. Greg Howes paved the way for the Wave, collecting five goals and three assists in the first game. He followed that with a hat trick and an assist in the back leg of the two-game series. Nick Vorberg recorded both wins in goal, stopping 25-of-29 shots faced. 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. Following this Sunday's match, the two teams will meet once more in the regular season on March 31 in Kansas City.

Last Time Out: 3-6 vs. Philadelphia – Greg Howes collected his league-leading fifth game-winning goal and the Milwaukee Wave secured a 6-5 overtime victory against the KiXX on Sunday afternoon. The teams traded goals early in the match with Milwaukee's Hewerton and Giuliano Oliviero and Philadelphia's Ptah Myers and John Barry Nusum putting points on the board. The Wave took a 4-2 lead heading into the intermission following a red card ejection on Philadelphia's Gary Brooks for violent conduct. Chris Morman converted the power-play goal following the ejection and Greg Howes added a goal at 11:31 of the second to take the two-point lead. Milwaukee extended its lead to 5-3 before Philadelphia rattled off three unanswered goals to tie things up at 5-5. Kevin Sloan collected the lone goal of the final period at 14:11 to send the game into overtime. Nine minutes into the extra session Joe Hammes sent a long outlet pass that bounced off the end board and over the head of a KiXX defender forcing Philadelphia goalkeeper Peter Pappas to come out high, which allowed Greg Howes to send the game-winner into the back of the empty net.

3-3 @ St. Louis - The Milwaukee Wave fell to the St. Louis Steamers 6-5 at the Savvis Center, snapping the Wave's six-game winning streak and putting an end to the Steamers four-game losing streak. The two teams traded goals in the opening period, with Milwaukee's Michael King (3:10) and Greg Howes (13:58) and St. Louis' Matt Caution (13:04) tallying goals. The Steamers opened up the scoring in the second quarter, collecting four unanswered goals. Mariano Bollella and Daryl Doran each scored and Joe Reiniger knocked in back-to-back goals to give the Steamers a 5-2 lead at the half. The Wave got on the board first in the third period as Chris Morman cracked a shot into the back of the net off the assist from Giuliano Oliviero. The Steamers pushed its lead back to two with a long-range left-foot shot from Mali Walton at 2:57 of the fourth period. Milwaukee got back within one with a restart goal by Semir Mesanovic off the pass from Howes with just more than two minutes left to go, but the Wave could not complete the comeback.

Howes Looks to Repeat as MVP: The 27-year-old Tacoma, Washington native leads the MISL in several categories including points (46), goals (27), game-winning goals (5) and restart 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 and has now scored at least two points in the last seven Wave games. In total, he has tallied 16 goals and seven assists in his last seven appearances. For the second straight week, Howes was also named the MISL Offensive Player of the Week. 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 (3/6) against the KiXX, collecting two goals, including the overtime game-winner at 9:39.

Milwaukee Thrives in Overtime: The Wave has played in eight overtime games so far this season. All eight of those contests have taken place on Milwaukee's home field at "The Cell." The Wave has posted a 5-3 record, including back-to-back overtime wins in the last two matches at home: a 4-3 victory versus the Chicago Storm on 2/20 and a 6-5 decision on 3/6 versus the Philadelphia KiXX. In its five extra-session victories, Greg Howes and Marcelo Fontana have each converted two game-winners and Giuliano Oliviero has tallied one. On average, the golden goal has been converted seven-and-a-half minutes into overtime; in the five overtime games the Wave has won, the game-winner has come on average at the six minute mark; but in the three instances the Wave has lost, the game-winner has not been tallied until the 10 minute mark (including the 1/7 game in which St. Louis collected the deciding goal at the 9:00 minute mark of the second overtime).

Wave Defense Holds Strong at Top of the League: Milwaukee currently boasts the top defensive attack behind MISL leading goalkeeper Nick Vorberg with a 3.72 goals-against average. Vorberg has recorded 16 wins in 22 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. Milwaukee is also the most effective in the league on the man down team, killing an opponent's power play 68% of the time. The Wave has also held opponents to just 26 goals in its last eight games; while Milwaukee's offense has exploded for 49 goals.

Check out the Milwaukee Wave Statistics

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 8, 2005


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