PERERA'S OT GOAL LIFTS WAVE OVER SYRACUSE

SYRACUSE (Feb. 7, 2014) — Down 7-0 in the first quarter, the Milwaukee Wave battled back to force overtime before Nick Perera's goal 30 seconds into the extra period gave the Wave a 15-13 win over the Syracuse Silver Knights on Friday night.

The Wave (12-2) remain in first place by a half-game over the Baltimore Blast with their second overtime victory of the season.

Victor Quiroz set up the winning score with a long pass out of his own end, finding Perera unmarked for a blistering finish past Bryan O'Quinn. Perera had also created the game's first tie at 11-all with a 3-pointer with 2:44 left in the third period.

“When they initially won the ball, they all started running forward and they forgot about Nick,” Wave coach Keith Tozer said of the winning goal “Victor was fortunate enough to win it, he's got great field presence, saw Nick and made a great pass to him.”

Before then, Syracuse (9-7) had controlled the match. A 3-pointer by Cory Elenio just 62 seconds into the game was followed by 2-pointers from Bo Jelovac and Neto to make it 7-0. Milwaukee responded with scores from Ian Bennett and Carlos Munoz, but not until Perera's goal did the Wave draw even.

“We kept clinching, clawing, fighting, digging,” Tozer said. “.Every time we got close, they pulled away. They're a good team.”

Syracuse regained the lead 13 seconds into the fourth quarter, and then Hewerton's second goal tied the match with 12:30 left in the fourth quarter.

Marcel Feenstra was credited with 35 saves and improved his record to 9-1.

“I thought Dutchie just played an incredible game,” Tozer said of Feenstra.

Milwaukee finishes its East Coast road trip at 2 p.m. Sunday with a game at the Rochester Lancers (5-10). The Wave return home at 2 p.m. next Sunday against the Pennsylvania Roar.