WAVE KICK IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL IN WIN OVER AMBUSH

You know it's a rout when three Wave players already have two goals by halftime.

Milwaukee scored 20 consecutive points Saturday night to crush St. Louis, 24-4, at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Carlos Munoz finished with four goals, one in each quarter, and Marcio Leite added two goals and two assists.

"It's always a lot of fun to play a game like that," Leite said.

Milwaukee (5-1) was not only playing at home for just the second time, it was the team's first game since a 15-6 loss at Missouri on Dec. 13.

The long layoff after the only loss of the season, as well as five days off for Christmas, definitely helped.

"I knew they would have fresh legs," Wave coach Keith Tozer said. "The week before the five days was strenuous. We had three double sessions — three in the gym and three on the field. There was a little moaning, a little groaning, because some of the players have never done the things we've been doing. But I know it'll pay off by the end of the year."

Marcel Feenstra had an even longer break, as the goalkeeper's only other start was in a 23-21 victory at Missouri in the season opener Nov. 16.

"This is way better, of course," Feenstra said. "Obviously you're a goalkeeper and you want to make saves. But I always say if you don't have to make saves, that's the best feeling because that means the team is doing its job."

St. Louis can only hope for better results when its hosts Milwaukee on Saturday.

It was the third time the 2-5 Ambush allowed at least 24 points in a game, and midfielder Brian Soell had seen enough when he received a red card for yelling at the referee from the bench with 10 minutes 8 seconds left in the fourth. He even ripped off the lid of a garbage can and slung it down the hallway as he exited.

"I think we stuck to the plan," Munoz said. "We played great defense again and when you play great defense, you've always got scoring chances."

It took only 78 seconds for Milwaukee to score, compliments of Nicolas Perera.

St. Louis' first goal came with 7:12 left in the first when Michael Roach scored to trim Milwaukee's lead to 4-2.

It was all Wave the rest of the way.

"We were talking about getting goals inside the (goalie) box and playing a little bit more indoor soccer," Tozer said. "And we had eight out of 12 goals inside the box. That's what I was happy about."

Highlights included Fabio Ribeiro's goal with just 17 seconds left in the first.

In the second, Leite dribbled past Soell, who seemed less than interested in defense, and scored a power-play goal for a 10-2 lead. Ribeiro, Munoz and Leite then added their second goals of the night for a 16-2 halftime lead.

It took only 22 seconds for Pablo to score in the second half, and even when goalkeeper Jeff Richey made a rare save, it ended up going in the back of the net. Case in point was a hard three-point shot by Tony Walls that Richey blocked. The ball bounced back to Walls, who headed it to his left to Munoz, who quickly scored for a 20-2 lead with 1:55 remaining.

In the fourth, Victor Quiroz scored his first goal of the season before Munoz netted his fourth of the game with 8:22 remaining for a 24-2 lead.

SCORING SUMMARY

St. Louis 2 0 0 2 — 4
Milwaukee 8 8 4 4 — 24

First quarter — 1, MIL, Perera (Quiroz), 1:18; 2, MIL, Banks (Bennett), 2:34; 3, STL, Roach (Kimball), 7:48; 4, MIL, Munoz (Leite), 10:07; 5, MIL, Ribeiro (Perera), 14:43. Penalties — None.

Second quarter — 6, MIL, Leite, 1:42 (pp); 7, MIL, Ribeiro (Rampa), 3:02; 8, MIL, Munoz (Oliviero), 5:30; 9, MIL, Leite (Fontana), 14:36. Penalties — Served by Kimball, STL (too many players), 1:03.

Third quarter — 10, MIL, Pablo (Oliviero), 0:22; 11, MIL, Munoz (Walls), 13:05. Penalties — None.

Fourth quarter — 12, MIL, Quiroz (Perera), 1:34; 13, MIL, Munoz (Leite), 6:38 (pp); 14, STL, Roach, 12:25. Penalties — Soell, STL (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:52.

Shots — STL 9; MIL 24. Saves — STL, Richey 12; MIL, Feenstra 7. Power plays — STL 0 of 0; MIL 2 of 2.

A — 4,149. T — 2:05.