Milwaukee Wave floods out Utica City FC
MILWAUKEE - Fresh off their intense win over the Kansas City Comets, the Milwaukee Wave, currently second in the Eastern MALS division behind Florida, welcomed Utica City Football Club with open arms and a tight defense. The black turf of the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena was hot in anticipation of Sunday's win.
Derek Huffman tapped off the Wave at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena as they hosted Utica City Football Club. After an unfortunate start, Alex Bradley soared to the rescue on Superhero and Princess Day, scoring the Wave’s first goal, tying it up 1-1 at the end of the first quarter.
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Rookie players Azcueta, Lawal and Sanchez further proved to the Wave fans that they were in the right place, winning 2v1 possessions and creating attacking plays repeatedly. Oliveira scored to one-up UCFC’s relentlessness, bringing the score to 2-1 Wave at the end of the half.
Bradley, creating a true superhero reputation for himself, flew a third Wave goal into the net to make it 3-2 Wave. With more soaring and twirling from the Wave players, they seem to have dropped their second-half funk and reclaimed it as their territory.
The third quarter ended 3-3, all tied up once again. Oliveira flew his second goal from the corner, bringing the lead back home at 4-3 Wave. Shortly after, he nailed in his third to make a hat trick and end the game 5-3 Wave.
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"Utica loves playing in front of a crowd… They brought their A-game," said Head Coach Giuliano Oliviero "We were close a few times, but Willie Banahene really came up for us."
Banahene was named Player of the Game alongside Oliveira, who scored three of the five goals for the Wave. Banahene clocked 14 saves.