Milwaukee Wave struggle in Kansas City; lose 5th straight
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - It was a contest that was decided by a matter of moments and the 7-time champion Milwaukee Wave who were pushing lead after lead throughout the game just couldn’t keep the MASL Central Division-leading Kansas City Comets from getting back into the game. Final Score: Milwaukee Wave 6, Kansas City Comets 8.
The first half was an impressive and sound defensive period as the Wave were able to hold the Comets to three first-half goals. It was Ian Bennett who scored the two lone Wave goals in the first half.
The second half was impressive from the Wave offensively. Kyle Crain, Gordy Gusron and Javier Steinwascher were all able to get on the score sheet in the third period. The Wave grabbed the lead from Comets only to have it disappear by a gut-wrenching end-of-quarter goal from the Comets to end the third.
The fourth quarter started off on a positive note as Ian Bennett secured his hat-trick, but just seconds later Kansas City player-coach Leo Gibson scored to tie the game up. Kansas City would go on to score the winning goal halfway through the fourth quarter and add an empty-net goal to finish the game.
"Here we are again with a game filled with a lot of positives but one we couldn’t close out," said Head Coach Giuliano Oliviero. "This one stings and is certainly disappointing but we’re not out of it quite yet. The best thing to do moving forward is to keep the guys believing, keep them feeling good and hopefully we can get some results."
Up next, one last playoff push with very important games against St. Louis Ambush.
Friday night, March 18, 7:35 p.m. (CT) at The Family Arena (Watch) and Sunday afternoon, March 20. 1:05 p.m. at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
"These next two games are going to be big," added Oliviero. "We’re hoping to get a couple guys back from injury and mix them in with guys that have really picked up their game these last few. We have the opportunity at some win-able games and as long as we’re in it, we’re going to keep pushing."
Tickets at MilwaukeeWave.com or at the Box Office prior to the game.