Wisconsin Soccer Central

A weeknight trip to Texas nearly tripped up the Milwaukee Wave, but the combination of Ian Bennett and Marcio Leite came through for them once again.

Bennett had his second four-goal game of the season and Leite scored the golden goal 2:37 into overtime as the Wave got past the Dallas Sidekicks 7-6 in a Major Arena Soccer League match Thursday night in Allen, Texas.

Marcelo Fontana and Sean Totsch also scored and Max Ferdinand added three assists in the penultimate regular-season game for Milwaukee (12-7), which won its first matchup against the Sidekicks since March 2004.

The Wave led 3-1 after Bennett scored 18 seconds into the third quarter, but Dallas (7-11) pulled level and it was a back-and-forth match the rest of the way. Milwaukee went ahead by one on three occasions, only to see the Sidekicks tie it each time, the last time on R.J. Luevano's third goal of the night with 42 seconds left in regulation.

Leite, though, scored his 15th goal of the season – and his 10th in the past seven games – as the Wave improved to 3-1 this season in matches that go beyond the regulation 60 minutes.

Bennett ranks second in the MASL with 36 goals this season, tying his career high set last season, and has scored in 17 of Milwaukee's 19 matches – and has found the back of the net in each of the past 13 games. Ferdinand, meanwhile, leads the Wave with 17 assists, which is tied for ninth in the league.

Milwaukee closes out the regular season Saturday against the St. Louis Ambush (5-13) at home, with kickoff set for 6:05 p.m. at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The Wave then will play host to the Chicago Mustangs (13-6) in Game 1 of the Central Division semifinals on March 5. Game 2 is scheduled for March 6 in Hoffman Estates, Ill., along with the mini-game tiebreaker, if necessary.