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MISL 2 Milwaukee Wave

Wave's Howes Wins Third Most Valuable Player Trophy

April 25, 2008 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Milwaukee Wave News Release


MILWAUKEE (April 25, 2008) -- Scoring in bunches ... scoring in the clutch ... scoring all year long.

For filling the net like no other player in the Major Indoor Soccer League, Greg Howes was honored on Friday with his third league Most Valuable Player award.

Only one other man has more league MVPs. The incomparable Hector Marinaro, for whom the MVP trophy is named, won six titles. Rudy Pikuzinski captured three consecutive honors in the American Indoor Soccer Association, the forerunner of the MISL, from 1987-89. Three other players won two MVPs each, including former Wave goalkeeper Victor Nogueira.

The MVP is chosen in balloting by coaches, media and public relations staff of the teams.

Howes won the award in 2004 and 2005, ceding the title to Baltimore's Adauto Neto in 2006 and Detroit's Jamar Beasley in 2007. This season, however, Howes dominated the scoring race and helped lead the Wave to a 22-8 record, tied with Detroit for the best record in the league.

Milwaukee came up short in its attempt to win a fifth league championship, losing in the semifinals to Baltimore.

"It's a good day for me individually, I guess," said Howes. "I'd like to thank Keith for putting up with me on a day-to-day basis and giving me the opportunity to succeed. There are a lot of other players on our team who are worthy."

With 130 points, Howes easily won the Puma Scoring Championship over Monterrey's Dino Delevski (102 points). He topped the league in goals (45) and assists (32) and had a league-best 13 restart goals.

"There are some players who understand the game, and I think he really, really understands the game," said Wave head coach Keith Tozer.

Howes scored in 27 of the 28 games he played this season, but really turned it on during the second half of the season. A 10-goal burst during three games in January - including a spectacular 3-point volley at Detroit ¬on Jan. 18 - gave him some space in a neck-and-neck battle with Delevski. Then in the final nine games of the year, Howes had at least five points in every game as the Wave went 8-1.

In a 15-13 overtime win at Philadelphia on March 29, Howes had an assist plus a hat trick capped by a restart goal in overtime. Less than 24 hours later, the Wave won a key battle at home with Detroit 18-12, and Howes scored twice and assisted on another goal. His bending 3-pointer in the third quarter gave the Wave the lead for good, 11-8.

He finished the regular season with his fifth hat trick, then scored nine points in two playoff games.

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