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MISL 2 Milwaukee Wave

Wave wins pair to clinch MISL Central Division title

March 9, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Milwaukee Wave News Release


(Milwaukee, WI) Coming off a pair of wins that enabled it to clinch its fifth consecutive regular season division title (9-7 v. KC on 3/6, 10-3 v. StL on 3/7), the Milwaukee Wave (12-2 home / 9-5 road / 21-7 overall) is preparing for another busy weekend as it continues play during the 2003-04 Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) season. The Wave will take on the Kansas City Comets this Friday (3/12, 7:35 PM) at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO before returning home to entertain the defending MISL Champion Baltimore Blast this Sunday, March 14, 1:05 PM at U.S. Cellular Arena.

Sunday, March 14 will be "St. Patrick's Day with the Wave" at U.S. Cellular Arena with Coach Keith Tozer's team donning green jerseys that will be auctioned off to benefit Children's Hospital. Call the Wave Office at 414-224-WAVE (9283) for more information, or visit www.milwaukeewave.com.

Tickets for all Wave home games ($18, $14, and $12) are available at the Wisconsin Center District (WCD) Box Office, located between U.S. Cellular Arena and the Milwaukee Theater at 510 W. Kilbourn Ave., all TicketMaster Outlets, or by phone charge at 414-276-4545. Groups of 10 or more should contact the Wave's Group Sales Dept. at 414-224-WAVE (9283) for group rate discounts.

Howes Named MISL Offensive Player of the Week: Wave forward Greg Howes has been MISL Player of the Week for the week of 3/1-3/7. Howes continued his torrid scoring pace this past weekend by scoring four goals in both games at U.S. Cellular Arena. The 26-year old Howes tallied four in the Wave's 9-7 win over Kansas City on 3/6 prior to scoring four more in the Wave's 10-3 conquest of St. Louis the following day (3/7). The fourth-year pro from Oregon State now leads the league with 47 goals and 70 total points including 23 assists. Including a four-goal outing on 2/22 @ Philadelphia, Howes has now registered four goals in three consecutive games and has five four-goal outings thus far in the 2003-04 campaign. It's the third time Howes has been named Offensive Player of the Week; he's also been a two-time Offensive Player of the Month selection, as well. (December and February).

This Week:

Day Date Event Time** Place

Tue. Mar. 9 Practice OFF

Wed. Mar. 10 Practice 10 AM Uihlein Soccer Park

Thu. Mar. 11 Practice 10 AM U.S. Cellular Arena

Fri. Mar. 12 Game at Kansas City 7:35 PM Kemper Arena

Sat. Mar. 13 Travel Day

Sun. Mar. 14 GAME V. BALTIMORE 1:05 PM U.S. CELLULAR ARENA

**Practice dates and times are subject to change. Please contact the Wave Media Relations Dept. at 414-908-6338 / 6339 if you plan to cover any session. Uihlein Soccer Park is located at 7101 W. Good Hope Rd. on Milwaukee's northwest side.

Upcoming Schedule: HOME GAMES in CAPS

Day Date Opponent Time (CST) Venue Broadcast

Fri. 3/12 Kansas City 7:35 PM Kemper Arena 540 AM, WRRD

SUN. 3/14 BALTIMORE 1:05 PM U.S. CELLULAR ARENA 540 AM, WRRD

SAT. 3/20 DALLAS 6:05 PM U.S. CELLULAR ARENA 540 AM, WRRD

Sun. 3/21 Dallas 6:05 PM Reunion Arena 540 AM, WRRD

THU. 3/25 SAN DIEGO 7:05 PM U.S. CELLULAR ARENA 540 AM, WRRD

TV-41, WMLW*

Sat. 3/27 St. Louis 1:05 PM Family Arena, St. Charles, MO 540 AM, WRRD

FRI. 4/2 PHILADELPHIA 7:05 PM U.S. CELLULAR ARENA 540 AM, WRRD

TV-41, WMLW*

Sat. 4/3 Baltimore 6:35 PM 1st Mariner Arena 540 AM, WRRD

*Channel 7 on Time Warner Basic Cable

Injury Report: Pos. Player Injury Status GM – DLP**

M Leighton O'Brien abdominal questionable 2 – 2/22/04

D Pat White knee questionable 4 – 2/14/04

* probable = 75% chance of playing; questionable = 50%; doubtful 25%; out = will not play

**Games Missed – Date Last Played

Suspensions: none

Wave on Radio: All Wave games home and away may be heard live on 540 AM, WRRD ("The Word") with air time for each broadcast approximately 20 minutes prior to kick-off.

Wave on TV: The Wave has two more games scheduled to be televised on TV-41, WMLW which is also Channel 7 on Time Warner Basic Cable. Upcoming games to be televised on WMLW include:

Day Date Broadcast Time* Opponent

Thu. 3/25 7 PM San Diego

Fri. 4/2 7 PM Philadelphia

*All times Central

"Wave Insider" TV Show: The Wave's weekly half-hour television show "Wave Insider" may be seen on TV-41, WMLW (Channel 7 on Time Warner Basic Cable) each Saturday from 10:00 – 10:30 AM throughout the remainder of the indoor season. The weekly half-hour show will include highlights and analysis from past games, previews of upcoming games, and interviews with Wave players, coaches, and other Wave / Wave United personalities.

Wave Notes: *The Wave is now 117-39 (.750) in its last 156 regular and post-season outings.

*The Wave's back-to-back home losses to KC on 2/5 and Phi on 2/8 were the first consecutive home losses for Milwaukee since it dropped its first two home games of the 2000-01 season. Prior to that, the Wave had not lost consecutive home games since the 1994-95 campaign.

*The 12/31 contest v. Monterrey was Coach Keith Tozer's 500th game as coach of the Wave. Now in his 12th season with Milwaukee, Tozer is just the third coach in North American indoor soccer history to guide one team for as many games. Only Kenny Cooper (751 games with Baltimore) and Ron Newman (701 games with San Diego) have coached more games with a single franchise.

*Assistant Coach Steve Morris made his professional head coaching debut on 12/6 @ Bal. He stepped in for Keith Tozer, who was coaching the U.S. Futsal Team in Anaheim, CA.

*Milwaukee's 9-8 (OT) loss on 12/6 @ Bal broke a five-game overtime winning streak for the Wave dating back to the 2001-02 campaign. Milwaukee was 4-0 in extra-session games last year and 1-1 the year before.

*The Wave's 6-5 (2OT) win on 2/14 v. Dal improved the Wave's overtime record to 2-2 this season, and 26-31 all-time including 19-11 at home. It was eighth double OT game in team history – the Wave is 3-5 in such contests (3-1 at home).

*The 15 goals on 11/14 v. KC is the fourth highest total in team history. The Wave team record for most goals in a contest is 18, set on 12/6/98 v. Cle.

*Michael King's goal on 2/8 v. Phi was the 668th of his career moving him past Andy Chapman into sixth place on the all-time indoor soccer list of goal scorers. Cleveland's Hector Marinaro is the all-time leader with 1215.

*Troy Dusosky and Marcelo Fontana each scored a goal to record the 150th point of their respective careers (regular season) in Milwaukee's 6-2 win over Monterrey on 12/31 @ Mil.

*After enduring a six-game goalless streak, Todd Dusosky scored the 200th goal of his career on 3/6 v. KC.

*The Wave's "Twin Tandem" - Todd and Troy Dusosky - has now combined for 292 goals (Todd 201 + Troy 91) and 317

assists (Todd 248 + Troy 69) for 609 points (Todd 449 + Troy 160), good for tenth on the all-time indoor soccer brothers scoring list.## The Dusoskys (Todd 400 + Troy 71 = 471) are also the highest scoring brother pair in Wave history ahead of the White brothers (Pat 165 + Erik 9 = 174).

## The Marinaros (Hector 1910 + Rob 8 = 1918) are the highest scoring brother pair in indoor soccer history. The Pikuzinskis (Rudy 931 + Randy 725 1656) are second.

*Joe Reiniger has tallied at least one point in 17-of-25 games so far this season and 348-of-369 career NPSL / MISL regular season contests. Reiniger still holds the league's second longest scoring streak at 105 straight games (ended on 3/17/02).

*Greg Howes has six hat-tricks so far this season (including a team-record five 4-goal outings) which ties the team record set by Joe Reiniger during the 2000-01 season.

*Howes current indoor consecutive games played streak is currently 153 straight (regular season and playoffs). It's the Wave's longest active streak, and the third longest streak in team history following Michael King (161) and current Wave Assistant Coach Steve Morris (155).

*Goalkeeper Dan Green set a personal record by not allowing any goals in the Wave's 7-1 victory over St. Louis on 1/31 at U.S. Cellular Arena. The 31-year old Waukesha, WI native stopped all six shots that he faced in the contest; however, the Steamers scored while he was in the penalty box. Green's scoreless streak eventually

Coach Keith Tozer: Now in his 12th season as Head Coach of the Wave (his 20th overall as a professional head coach) Keith Tozer is the winningest coach in the 25-year history of North American indoor soccer. Tozer, who became the first and only coach to reach the 500 win plateau on 4/12/02, currently sports a combined regular and post-season record of 554-349 (.614), including a 335-180 mark (.650) as coach of the Wave. The 46-year old Grosse Pointe, MI native, who is also Milwaukee's Vice President – Soccer Operations overseeing both the Wave indoor and Wave United outdoor teams, began his coaching career as a player-coach with the Louisville Thunder in 1984 following a six-year career in the original MISL. He has led Milwaukee to three league titles and five championship series appearances in the last six seasons. He is also a five-time NPSL / MISL Coach of the Year award winner (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003.) Tozer also has a 5-3 record in eight all-star coaching appearances including a win as U.S. coach in the 10-1 triumph over the International squad in the 2004 MISL All-Star Game on 2/29 @ StL.

Last Week's Recap:

3/6 @ Milwaukee Wave 9, Comets 7 Attendance – 7,033

Forward Greg Howes scored four goals for the fourth time this season while defender Chris Morman's goal with just 1:13 remaining broke a 7-7 deadlock and propelled the Milwaukee Wave to a 9-7 win over the Kansas City Comets Saturday (3/6) before a season-high crowd of 7,033 at U.S. Cellular Arena. It was also the Wave's third win-in-five meetings with the Comets this season and, coupled with St. Louis' 6-2 loss to Cleveland, enabled Milwaukee to clinch the Central Division title.

Howes tallied just one of the Wave's first five goals, a spectacular volley conversion from 30 feet out off a long pass from goalkeeper Dan Green at 9:14 of the second quarter. That score gave Milwaukee a 3-2 lead and was quickly followed by another sensational volley from Todd Dusosky, who scored his 200th career goal at 10:23 of the second frame.

Joe Reiniger's goal off a re-start pass from Giuliano Oliviero at 8:13 of the third quarter put the Wave up 5-2, but Kansas City would go on to score four-of-the-next five to tie it at 6-6 on Craig Scheer's goal at 6:22 of the fourth. Howes quickly answered with a re-start goal at 6:38 to give Milwaukee a 7-6 lead, but the Comets evened the score again on a Scheer goal at 13:10 from Matt Tanzini.

Just when it looked like the game might be headed for overtime, Morman blasted home his 12th goal of the campaign from 25 feet away on a nice lay back from Marcelo Fontana. After Milwaukee staved off a furious sixth attacker effort from the Comets, Howes completed the scoring with a chip into the empty net from beyond midfield. It marked the second straight game Howes has scored four goals (he also had four in Milwaukee's last game on 2/22 at Philadelphia) and it extended his MISL-best total to 43 for the season. Howes also extended his season high point total to 65 (43 goals + 22 assists).

Green stopped 11-of-18 shots faced to post his 12th-win-in-15 decisions. Chris Damico took the loss for Kansas City despite saving 17-of-25. The Wave and Comets conclude their season series Friday night (3/12, 7:35 PM) at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO.

3/7 @ Milwaukee Wave 10, Steamers 3 Attendance – 6,081

Forward Greg Howes scored four goals for a team record third consecutive outing as the Milwaukee Wave defeated the St. Louis Steamers 10-3 Sunday afternoon (3/7) at U.S. Cellular Arena. The win improved Milwaukee's record to 21-7 while the Steamers fell to 10-17.

Howes began his scoring outburst when he converted on a power play at 6:21 of the second quarter to give Milwaukee a 3-1 lead. He tallied again in the second period at 9:12 when he scored from point blank range after stealing the ball off the foot of St. Louis goalkeeper Brett Phillips in the goal mouth.

Howes registered his sixth hat trick of the season (tying a club record) when he scored again to make it 5-2 at 9:36 of the third quarter. He capped off his fifth four-goal effort of the season at 4:29 of the fourth quarter when took a long pass from Angel Rivillo and fired a shot past the charging Phillips from 35 feet away. The latter goal was also Howes' league-leading 47th of the season and it also began a final three-goal run for Milwaukee, which went on to post its second-highest scoring output of the season. (The Wave scored a season-high 15 goals in a 15-6 win over Kansas City on 11/14/03).

Howes finished the game with five points (four goals, one assist) while teammates Todd Dusosky and Michael King provided additional support with three and two points, respectively. Joe Reiniger also scored on a shoot-out that was awarded to the Wave following Phillips' hand-ball penalty near midfield as he attempted to stop Lovelace Ackah on a breakaway. All told the Wave was four-for-four on power play opportunities including Reiniger's shoot-out conversion.

Wave goalkeeper Nick Vorberg kept St. Louis in check by stopping 17-of-20 shots faced. Phillips, who yielded seven of the ten goals scored by Milwaukee, recorded nine saves before yielding to back-up Nando Hernandez. The Wave is now 5-0 against the Steamers this season, with the final game of the season series set for Saturday, March 27, 1:05 PM at Family Arena in St. Charles, MO.

Wave United to Open 2004 A-League Campaign on May 14, 7:05 PM at Uihlein Soccer Park: Milwaukee Wave United, the Wave's A-League (outdoor) team will kick-off the 2004 season on Friday, May 14, 7:05 PM when it hosts the Edmonton Aviators at Uihlein Soccer Park. Coach Art Kramer's team, which finished the 2003 campaign with the league's best regular season record (18-10-0, 54 points) will once again feature most of the current Wave indoor squad during the upcoming campaign. Call the Wave / Wave United Office at 414-224-WAVE (9283) for tickets or more information or visit www.milwaukeewaveunited.com.

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from March 9, 2004


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