Wisconsin Soccer Central

The Baltimore Blast scored three times in a 6-minute span in the fourth quarter to break open a tie game and went on to a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Wave in a Major Arena Soccer League match Friday night in front of 2,317 at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

J.C. Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) scored twice and Ian Bennett had the other goal for the Wave (8-6), who find themselves in third place in the Central Division after the weekend.

Milwaukee is a half game behind the Chicago Mustangs (8-5) and a half game ahead of the Wichita B-52s (7-6); the top three teams in the division qualify for the playoffs. The Missouri Comets (13-0) have all but clinched the Central title and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Veteran Adauto Neto had two goals for the Blast (12-0), including the go-ahead goal 4:27 into the final period, and goalkeeper William Vanzela made 24 saves as Baltimore beat the Wave for the third time this season. Five of Milwaukee's six losses have come against the Blast and Comets, the only unbeaten sides in the 23-team league.

Banks recorded his fourth consecutive two-goal game, equalizing early in the second and third quarters in the low-scoring match and giving him 15 goals on the season. Bennett scored his team-best 19th – tied for 11th in the MASL – but it came with 3:36 left after Baltimore's decisive surge, which included goals by Neto, Vini Dantas and Adriano dos Santos.

Jeff Richey made 10 saves for the Wave, who finished 4-2 on their season-long, six-game homestand and have six games left in the regular season. Milwaukee has two matches next weekend, at the Detroit Waza Flo (3-10) on Saturday night in Melvindale, Mich., and back home against Wichita in a key game at 3:05 p.m. Sunday at UWM Panther Arena.