Milwaukee Wave Preseason Was a Success

The Milwaukee Wave began on the right foot the pre-season game against the Chicago Mustangs at the Panther Arena. The Wave won the only pre-season match on Wednesday October 19, with a 10-8 final score.

The Wave had a slow start against the Mustangs. Chicago had more possession of the ball and more opportunities to score at the beginning of the game. Both teams had a solid defense for the first 10 minutes of the game.

The scoreless draw changed when the Wave took the lead after Andre Hayne scored; he was assisted by Ricardinho in the 5:35 minute of the first quarter. The Mustangs didn’t fall apart after being down in the score board by one. The constant attacking from Chicago gave results when Stefan Mijatovic scored for the mustangs at minute 3:36.

A few minutes afterwards, Chicago’s aggressiveness on the attack paid off when the team got a power play. The Mustangs took the lead when Efrain Martinez shot on the right top corner from the right wing with 37 seconds left of the first quarter. Milwaukee Wave player Ian Bennet explained the phase of the game through the first quarter.

“We had to do a lot defensively because Chicago kept attacking and really didn’t stop which I was surprised,” said Milwaukee Wave Forward Ian Bennett.

Milwaukee Wave Coach Giuliano Oliveiro made some changes for the second quarter. The Wave started the second quarter with more possession of the ball. The Mustangs had a well-ordered team, from strikers to goalkeeper. The Wave was able to show their dominance in the game when Hayne scored his second goal after four minutes played in the second quarter. With the game tied up, the Mustangs started to show a more offensive game. Bennett was constantly participating defensively to stop Chicago’s attack.

“He can do it at both ends, the energy he brings, the defense that he brings to the game, it’s great,” said Coach Oliveiro. “He is a player that can create opportunities though his defense.”

The Wave didn’t enjoy the tied game for a long time. Milwaukee gave another penalty to the Chicago Mustangs. Martinez took advantage of the power play and made a lower shot to the right post, and the ball rolled to the other side of the goal for the 3-2 lead. The game went to half time with a 3-2 Chicago lead.

The Milwaukee Wave started the third quarter with more intensity. After a genius play by Ricardinho with a back flip pass, forward Marcio Leite scored the equalizer for the Wave. The Mustangs started to feel the Wave’s pressure attack and midfielder Sean Totsch had the chance to score for the Wave after a bad pass from Mustangs’ goalkeeper Jesus Flores. The Wave seemed to pick up a rhythm but at eight minute of the third quarter, the team committed another penalty.

Once again, Chicago took advantage of the power play and Mijatovic showed his individual skills by scoring the fourth goal for the Mustangs. Two minutes after, Ian Bennett takes down the Mustangs defense and scored the equalizer for the Wave. It wasn’t until Osvaldo Rojas from Mustangs took a counter attack ball and left behind Wave’s goalkeeper Josi Lemos and scored with 10 seconds to play

“It was our first game and we gave some penalties that we probably shouldn’t have,” said Oliveiro. “Us getting to work on our man down and our power play, defensive and attacking defense it’s only going to help us when the regular season come away.”

The last quarter had an electric start after Mustang Taylor Bond got a red card. The Mustangs received a penalty with that and Hayne completed a hat-trick for the Wave at minute 11. The Wave re-took the lead when Leite shot with right foot form the right wing into the left corner of the goal. Milwaukee lead the score 6-5.

Another penalty for the Wave helped Chicago to score the 6-6 by Pewee Ortega. The last five minutes of the game were an orchestra of goals for both teams. New Milwaukee Wave player Isaac, scored the 7-6 lead for the Wave at 5:50 minute.

Two minutes after, Martinez from Mustangs set the ball across to Rojas and Rojas tied the game. The tied didn’t last long after Isaac with a counter attack left the goalkeeper behind and sent the ball to the net. The Wave was leading the game until the team committed another foul close to the goal. Martinez, took the free kick shot and scored an outstanding goal for the Mustangs.

With less than two minutes to be played, Leite regained the lead by dribbling from the left wing side and scored for the 9-8 for Milwaukee. The game had a minute to play, Chicago was attacking constantly with six players on the pitch and no goalkeeper. It wasn’t until Bennett took the ball in the mid-point of the field and ran straight to the net to score the final goal for the Milwaukee Wave.

“The game was very fast and extremely physical but the level was good for the team and for some new guys to play in a game like that.” said Bennett.

The team will prepare for the season the rest of the month and work on the details left on the pre-season game. The Wave will play the first season game on November 19 against the Kansas City Comets.