MILWAUKEE WAVE STUNNED; FABIAN CONTRIBUTES FOUR POINTS.

By Henry Amini.

MILWAUKEE, WI - The 7-Time Champion Milwaukee Wave lose to the Empire Strykers at home. 

Final Score: Milwaukee Wave 3, Empire Strykers 6.
BOXSCORE | GAMESHEET | REPLAY

The Milwaukee Wave were tasked with challenging the Empire Strykers when they were shocked in front of their home crowd. 

The Empire Strykers organization announced on Sunday that they would be travelling without their head coach Onua Obasi, instead employing their captain Robert Palmer as their player-coach for the road trip. The team seemed to be playing with a newfound life and this offered a strong push through the first two quarters. 

“We had a slow start,” Head Coach Marcio Leite said. The first half saw the Milwaukee Wave dug into a hole which ultimately made the difference in the final result. Marco Fabian made his impact known early in the matchup, tying himself to the Strykers first four goals. Qudus Lawal was the first goalscorer, assisted by Fabian. Much like the first point, Fabian assisted Issak Somow before netting a goal of his own at the start of the second quarter. Soon after, he assisted Alan Perez to round out his first half performance. 

Ricardo Carvalho opened the scoresheet for the Milwaukee Wave, finding the net with a one-touch finish assisted by Max Ferdinand. This marked Ferdinand’s 15th assist of the MASL season. 

At the start of the second half, Carvalho scored again thanks to an assist by Alex Steinwasher. While the game was brought to just 4-2, the Strykers made a swift response and Alan Perez scored his second goal to extend the lead further. 

With a tangible deficit of just three goals leading into the fourth quarter, Shawn Azcueta scored aiding Steinwasher in his 15th assist this season. The Strykers continued to employ a composed defense Perez’s empty net goal dampened the possibility of a late comeback and the Milwaukee Wave would lose 3-6. 

“It’s indoor soccer, we need to move on… We need to make sure that we’re working just as hard, or harder, than the other team because in this league, talent alone won’t win us the game,” Leite said. This is the message that echoed through UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena as the team looks ahead to the end of their season. The Milwaukee Wave remain in the third highest playoff spot with only three games left to play in the regular season. 

The Milwaukee Wave will face Utica City FC  at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Friday, March 20 at 6:35pm CST.

They will play the Baltimore Blast at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Sunday, March 22 at 3:05pm CST.