MISL News Release
Thursday, March 1, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced its Players of the Month for February on Thursday, with the Baltimore Blast’s Machel Millwood being named the Offensive Player of the Month, the Syracuse Silver Knights’ Nelson Santana being named Defensive Player of the Month and the Missouri Comets’ Danny Waltman being named Goalkeeper of the Month.
Millwood claimed Offensive Player of the Month honors after recording a point in each of the Blast’s five games, finishing the month with 22 points. Millwood, who was named the MISL Player of the Week in Week 16, recorded a pair of hat tricks in the month, including a key six-point performance as Baltimore defeated the Milwaukee Wave 17-13 on February 18 to give the Blast the season series against their rivals.
Santana has played a key role for the Silver Knights throughout the season, and became the MISL’s leading defensive scorer this month with 13 points in five games. Santana’s hat trick against the Rochester Lancers on February 12 helped keep his side alive in the playoff race, and while the Silver Knights fell short after a narrow loss to Milwaukee, Santana showed strong leadership for the first-year franchise.
Waltman is honored after a standout month during which he went 3-1 with a .789 save percentage to help the Comets clinch their place in the playoffs. Waltman had a pair of standout performances in his victories, recording 26 saves against the Rochester Lancers on February 19 and 24 saves against the Milwaukee Wave on February 12, both Comets victories. Waltman leads the league in minutes played, having only sat for one game this season, and is currently tied for the league lead with 13 victories.
The MISL regular season concludes this weekend as the Baltimore Blast host the Wichita Wings on Friday night, followed by a Sunday doubleheader that sees the Wings face the Norfolk SharX and the Blast travel to face the Syracuse Silver Knights.
All of this week’s slate of three games will be available on MISL Live (www.misllivesoccer.com), the league’s free online video service, with the MISL on course to surpass the 325,000 total attendance mark, which would represent a more than 62.5 percent increase in total attendance from the 2010-11 season.
The following weekend the MISL Playoffs will open with the Baltimore Blast facing the Rochester Lancers in the Eastern Division Finals and the defending champion Milwaukee Wave facing the Missouri Comets in the Central Division Finals. All four games will be available on MISL Live, with the division rivals battling for a berth in the MISL Championship Series.