WAVE SURGE PAST AMBUSH AT U.S. CELLULAR ARENA

MILWAUKEE (Jan. 25) — Ian Bennett and Marcio Leite each recorded a hat trick as the Milwaukee Wave charged back from a brief deficit to beat the St. Louis Ambush 21-9 on Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Milwaukee (10-2) remains a half-game ahead of Baltimore (10-3) in the MISL standings. The Wave have already swept the season series with the Blast and own the tiebreaker.

St. Louis (4-10), which scored just four points total in its last three games, stung the Wave early with five points in the first 6:12. Richard Schmermund stroked a 3-pointer, and then Chad Vandegriffe walked down the middle of the field and finished low past Marcel Feenstra to make it 5-0.

“Give them credit, it wasn't that we played poorly,” said Wave Coach Keith Tozer, noting that indoor legend Daryl Doran coaches the Ambush. “They played well.”

That's how the first quarter ended, and then the Wave blasted out of the gate in period two. Luan Oliveira drilled a 3-pointer 27 seconds in, and Philip Suprise redirected Victor Quiroz's centering pass moments later for his first professional goal. Bennett gave the Wave a 7-5 lead with a bounding strike. Marcelo Fontana tapped in a header following a creative ball off the side boards by Quiroz. Bennett closed the seven-minute surge by finishing a feed from Carlos Munoz, giving Milwaukee an 11-5 advantage.

“That's how this team is,” said Bennett, noting the different players contributing. “On any night, it could be that guy's night.”

The Ambush hung tough despite playing Friday night and having to travel from Missouri, where they lost 26-2 to the Comets. Dan Antoniuk scored late in the first half and Kyle Hopson in the third quarter, the last goal pulling St. Louis within 13-9.

But Leite peeled off a fourth-quarter hat trick — first in a 4-v-4 situation, the second on a power play — to push the Wave's advantage to 10 at 19-9. Hewerton closed out the scoring with his first goal of the season.

“In a 4-v-4 situation, there's a lot of space and it's hard to cover,” said Leite, who took the opening kickoff from Bennett, strolled down the left wing, faked into the penalty area and scored in just seven seconds. “That's part of my game, is the 1 v 1 situations.”

The Wave visit St. Louis next Saturday for the first of a three-game road trip. Their next home game is at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16 against the Pennsylvania Roar. Tickets are available by calling 414-224-9283 or visiting Ticketmaster.com.