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 It looks like the Major Indoor Soccer League Central Division playoff series could be quite the battle.
Vahid Assadpour had a hat trick and goalkeeper Danny Waltman made 24 saves as the Missouri Comets held off the Milwaukee Wave 17-14 Sunday afternoon in front of a season-high crowd of 5,964 at U.S. Cellular Arena to clinch their spot in next month's playoffs.
The Wave (16-3) pulled within 15-14 with 1:26 remaining as Hewerton Moreira scored his second straight goal, but Assadpour sealed the outcome with his 19th goal of the season with 7 seconds left as the Comets (13-8) ended Milwaukee's five-game winning streak.
Moreira finished with two goals and two assists for the Wave, who close out the regular season with five road matches. Included in that are games at Missouri on Feb. 24 and 26, which will be followed by the playoff series March 9 in Missouri and March 11 at U.S. Celullar Arena.
Nick Perera added his 14th and 15th goals for Milwaukee, with his first strike giving the Wave a 6-2 lead just 13 seconds after teammate Pablo had netted his sixth of the season. The Comets, though, rattled off four straight goals in an 11-2 surge that put them up 13-8 at halftime.
Milwaukee defender Evan McNeley scored for just the second time this season – his first goal since Nov. 27 was the lone score in the third quarter – only to see Missouri's John Sosa get the points right back early in the fourth.
Moreira brought the Wave closer with his 10th goal at the 7:20 mark and then added his 11th at 13:34 with Greg Howes on in place of keeper Marcel Feenstra (eight saves) as an extra attacker, but Assadpour's late goal – assisted by Waltman – wrapped up the Comets' fourth consecutive win.
Milwaukee heads east to play the Eastern Division champion Baltimore Blast on Saturday, the Norfolk SharX next Sunday and the Syracuse Silver Knights on Feb. 22 before wrapping up the regular season with two games against Missouri.
While the Comets could tie the Wave by winning their final three games and having Milwaukee lose its final five matches, the league announced that the Wave clinched the Central Division regular-season title based on tiebreakers.
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