Milwaukee Wave News Release – www.milwaukeewave.com
Sunday, November 13, 2011
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – The Milwaukee Wave unveiled their fifth championship banner on Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Arena and captain Greg Howes made sure the fans would go home happy. Howes capped a thrilling back and forth affair that featured four ties and four lead changes scoring his 149th career 2-point goal to give Milwaukee a 15-13 victory against the Wichita Wings.
Howes, Jonathan Santos and newcomer Nick Perera led the Wave with three points each while Alargie Jobe and Chris Lemmons led the Wings with four points apiece.
The Wave came out determined to control the tempo, and controlled the first seven minutes of the match. Midfielder Pablo had his shot saved by Wichita’s keeper Sanaldo Carvalho at point blank range at the 10:24 mark, the game’s first threatening opportunity. Two more saves by Sanaldo on Pablo and Marcio Leite kept the Wave off the scoreboard during the first nine minutes.
Despite the Wave’s ball possession, it was the Wings who would draw first blood. Jobe scored on a beautiful shot from the right side near the 3-point line, beating the Wave’s Marcel Feenstra with a bullet into the far post at the 5:20 mark to put Wichita up 2-0. The lead wouldn’t last long, as Milwaukee answered a minute later. Pablo received a pass from Evan McNeley, expertly placing it into the upper left corner just over a minute later to tie the game.
Wichita made the most of its opportunities in the second quarter, scoring three times to take a 9-5 lead going into the half. Milwaukee took the lead with a Santos rocket into the corner from behind the arc after Perera laid the ball off perfectly and Santos punished the Wings to take a 5-2 lead. The assist marked the first point for Perera in a Wave uniform.
But from there it was all Wichita as they scored three unanswered goals. Kevin Ten Eyke tied up the score with a 3-point goal off a loose ball with 6:40 to go. Jamar Beasley followed that up with a run from midfield, cutting back and slotting one home past Feenstra. Wichita then made Milwaukee pay after Perera was shown a blue card for dangerous play with less than two minutes to go. Jobe scored his second of the game during the man advantage, slotting one under Feenstra off Lemmons’ assist with 48 seconds to go.
Wave coach Keith Tozer lit a fire under his team at the half as Milwaukee came out guns blazing in the second half. Tom Oatley got things going at 11:15 as the ball caromed in off crossbar to make it 11-9. In the aftermath of the goal the referees gave yellow cards to Sanaldo and Rampa after Sanaldo stepped on Rampa, drawing a response from the Wave player. Two minutes later, Ian Bennett deked two defenders out before laying it off to Perera who scored his first goal as a Wave player to tie the game.
Howes followed that a minute later with a gorgeous bounce pass off the wall to a streaking Leite who put it past Sanaldo with ease. Rife got in on the action 40 seconds later, deflecting a Fabinho shot off a restart into the net to make it 13-9. Wichita didn’t cave, though, and fired right back. Lemmons chipped Feenstra off of a Victor Quiroz lob to make it 13-11 with both teams having players in the penalty box. The Wings tied the game again fresh off defending a Wave power play. Ten Eyke, who had been sent to the box for tripping, stormed out to head a two-on-none breakaway, finishing with ease.
Both teams came out tentatively in the fourth, unwilling to make a mistake that might prove costly. A Leite shot drew a save at with 7:40 left while a good counterattack from the Wings forced a save from Feenstra a minute later. With under five minutes to play, Sanaldo saved a threatening strike from Pablo to keep the score level. But just when it looked like overtime was a formality, Howes scored his 149th career 2-point goal, driving a home a pass from Leite past Sanaldo.
Wichita wouldn’t give in though, and found some life after Santos was ejected for being booked three times in one game with 1:10 to go. It was not to be however as the Wave held on for a 15-13 victory.