The Milwaukee Wave put on a display of — in the words of a long-running reality show — outwit, outplay and outlast against the St. Louis Ambush Saturday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The Wave handed the Ambush a 14-6 beating, improving Milwaukee’s record to 3-5 and leaving the Ambush (0-5) still seeking their first win of the season.
Ambush midfielder Corey Adamson celebrated his birthday with the first goal of the game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at 4:32 of the first quarter. From that point on, the Wave played a superior possession game that resulted in consecutive goals from Stuart Grable, Robert Renaud, Ian Bennett and Daniel Mattos, giving Milwaukee a 4-1 lead at the end of the period.
Milwaukee’s offense showed no signs of slowing in the second quarter as Ian Bennett scored back-to-back goals within the first four minutes to complete the hat trick and give the Wave a 6-1 advantage. Sean Totsch scored at 6:17 to give the Wave a 7-1 lead that held until the teams retired to the locker rooms for the halftime break.
Carlos Contreras started the scoring in the second half with a high shot over the head of Wave goalkeeper Josh Lemos at 6:15 to make the score 7-2. The Wave answered with Bennett’s fourth tally of the night, followed by another from Daniel Mattos to give Milwaukee a 9-2 lead. The Wave hit double digits (10-2) when Edder Nelson went on a breakaway and found the back of the net at 10:13. The Ambush answered at 11:35 when Wave defender Chad Vandegriffe headed the ball near the goal and it went the wrong way for an own goal credited to Chris Mattingly. Milwaukee would answer quickly when Max Ferdinand scored at 12:10, making the score 11-3.
The Wave showed no signs of letting up as Max Ferdinand notched his second goal of the night just ten seconds into the final stanza to give Milwaukee a 12-3 lead. Victor France answered for the Ambush at 2:53 when he was able to take a pass from Kory Dowell and put it in the back of the net, closing the scoring gap to 12-4. It would be the first of back-to-back goals for the visitors as Greg Kranz fired a long shot into the upper ninety at 5:51 to make the score 12-5. The Wave answered at 8:44 when Ferdinand beat Ambush goalkeeper Casey Clark to complete his hat trick. The Ambush weren’t done, as Kory Dowell fired a rocket from the yellow line that shot beyond the reach of Wave goalkeeper Rafael Dias at 12:01. Less than a minute later (12:57), Bennett scored his fifth of the contest to give the Wave a 14-6 lead that would hold until the final buzzer.
Ambush Head Coach Tony Glavin didn’t hide his disappointment at the team’s performance. “It wasn’t one of our best efforts,” Glavin said. “I am disappointed overall. I know we can play better. We kept making the same mistakes over and over,” he said concluding, “We won’t play like that again.” Glavin added that the team will go to work this week on correcting weaknesses and come out strong in their next game against Florida next Friday at the Family Arena.
Saturday’s match was the first of the regular season for Ambush midfielder Lucas Almeida, who was back in the lineup after suffering a broken collar bone in a pre-season game. Almeida said it was great to be back on the pitch, but like Glavin, he said things need to get better. “We have a great, dedicated group of players and we will keep working and turn things around,” Almeida said.
The Ambush return home when they welcome the expansion Florida Tropics for the first time ever next Friday, December 9 at 7:35 p.m. at the Family Arena.
