Milwaukee Wave defeat Baltimore Blast 2-1 in MASL Eastern Conference Finals
MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Wave defeated the Baltimore Blast in the Major Arena Soccer League Ron Newman Cup Eastern Conference Finals Sunday afternoon, April 28 at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena -- the final score, 2-1.
"I’m feeling a little better now than I was the last few hours," said Milwaukee Wave Head Coach Giuliano Oliviero. "What a team. What an organization the Blast are. From their owner Ed Hale to the best coach in the league, Danny Kelly, everything he’s done for the team since he’s taken over is just great. I give their players full credit. They’re playing away from home and their game plan was fantastic. On our side -- I couldn’t be prouder of the guys. We talked first day of preseason about this, on Nov. 1. It’s been six months of hard work, and I’m just beyond happy for the players getting through such a tough and important game today."
Milwaukee Wave goals were scored by #77 Marcio Leite (Q1 -- 11:35) and #26 Ian Bennett had the game winning goal. (Q4 -- 5:11).
"It's such a great feeling," said Bennett. "I’m thinking that we missed some opportunities we should have had. I’m really just happy for the team. Our defense was good all game. We just couldn’t put the ball in the net like we wanted to. Finally, I got lucky and I got one, and that was all we needed. I’m incredibly happy, but we are ready to see who we get to play in the finals."
Milwaukee Wave goalkeeper #30 Josh Lemos only took four shots against and let one by for a save percentage of .750.
"I’m feeling very blessed," added Lemos. "I just thank God we got the result we wanted. Obviously, we are incredibly happy with the result, but we know that this is just a piece to our puzzle. We have one more piece missing, so hopefully we can get the other peace next weekend to complete it."
"I’m feeling amazing about the playoffs in terms of the competitiveness of the game," said Major Arena Soccer League Commissioner Josh Schaub. "About half our games have been one goal games so far. We’ve entertained our fans to the nth degree. It’s been outstanding so far. We have another game tonight, San Diego vs. Monterey, and winner of that will play the Wave. Tonight determines whether the game will be in San Diego or Milwaukee. Either way, the league wins and it will be an outstanding game. We will have a huge crowd, and I couldn’t be happier for the league right now."