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 Ian Bennett had a hat trick and the Milwaukee Wave allowed just two goals over the final three quarters en route to a 25-10 victory over the Syracuse Silver Knights on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Arena, giving legendary coach Keith Tozer his 700th career victory.
Tozer is the winningest coach in indoor soccer history with a 700-433 record in 27 seasons, the past 19 with the Wave.
Nick Perera added two goals and two assists and Greg Howes scored his team-leading 16th and 17th goals of the season as Milwaukee improved its Major Indoor Soccer League-leading record to 14-2.
A season-high crowd of 5,416 saw Howes open the scoring 1:25 into the game and Perera make it 4-0 just 34 seconds later in what turned out to be a nine-point first quarter for the Wave.
Perera and Marco Terminesi scored in an 8-second span early in the second quarter, and Perera set up Marcio Leite for his 13th of the season less than 4 minutes later as Milwaukee's lead grew to 15-6. Terminesi also had a 3-pointer in the first quarter and has racked up 27 points over his past five matches.
Bennett, who ended a two-game scoreless streak with his first-quarter strike, had back-to-back goals before Howes added his second of the day 5:04 into the fourth quarter. Howes moved up to ninth in the MISL in scoring with 46 points, while Bennett is tied for 10th with 44 and Perera and Leite are tied for 15th with 39.
Goalkeeper Nick Vorberg faced just 19 shots and made 14 saves as the Wave won the opener of a four-game homestand – their final home matches of the regular season. Counterpart Brian O'Quinn, meanwhile, stopped 17 of 29 shots as the Silver Knights (6-12) lost their sixth in a row.
Milwaukee plays host to the Baltimore Blast (13-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the latest installment of the teams' long-standing rivalry. The Blast, who lost to the Wave in last season's MISL final, handed Milwaukee one of its two losses this season with a 9-4 decision on Dec. 31 at U.S. Cellular Arena. - At halftime, George Pastor, Michael Richardson, the Sayles Family and Candy McGuire were inducted into the Wave Hall of Fame. The team also honored Troy Dusosky, who retired before the season – the defender played 16 seasons of professional indoor soccer, the final 10 with the Wave, and was a three-time All-Pro selection.
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