MKE WAVE FINISH REGULAR SEASON WITH A VICTORY AGAINST FLORIDA TROPICS; ROUND ONE OF MASL PLAYOFFS NEXT SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

Your Six- Time Champion and playoff bound Milwaukee Wave beat the very skilled Florida Tropics Saturday night at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. This game concludes the 2017-2018 regular season as the Wave prepare for MASL playoffs.

Final score: Milwaukee Wave 7, Florida Tropics 3.

“I think the biggest thing tonight, and all season, was the support we’ve had from our fans,” said Head Coach Giuliano Oliviero. “To go 10-1 at home in the regular season says a lot about the support we get from them and the players really respond well to it. Our fans have been fantastic. We didn’t give up a goal going into the fourth quarter, but to win a championship you have to be great defensively and tonight we were. This is a big positive heading into Cedar Rapids next week.”

BOXSCORE | GAMESHEET | REPLAY

Milwaukee Wave midfielder number 26 Ian Bennett not only scored a hat-trick against the Tropics Saturday night, but hit a milestone of 50 goals scored in the regular season.

“I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen today,” commented Bennett. “It has been in the back of my mind, because it is a big milestone to hit. But I’m just happy we got this win and got to tune-up before the playoffs. By how we’ve been playing lately I think we’re ready for it.”

Professional Construction Incorporated / PCI Hardest Working Player of the Year award was awarded to defender number 12 Stuart Grable.

“If you underline “hardest working” it completely describes Stuart Grable,” said Oliviero. “I don’t think anyone else deserved that award like he did, because he’s been a model of consistency since day one in every game this year. The guys on the team are really happy for him.”

The defender from Neenah, Wisconsin has played in all 22 games of the 2017-2018 MASL regular season with two goals scored and seven assists.

“It’s really cool this get an award like this and anyone on this team could’ve gotten it,” commented Grable. “I give all the credit to the guys on the team who are here pushing me everyday in training and in games to strive to get better and better.”

With the regular season officially over, the Milwaukee Wave set their sights on round one of MASL playoffs against the Cedar Rapids Rampage.

“We’re going to focus on ourselves again this week in training and get back to work,” said Grable. “I think it’s going to be some high intensity training this week, because playoffs are on a whole new level. I think all the guys know that and with our experienced team we will bring that level into training and to the games next week.”