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Wave win in shootout, deal Comets first regular-season loss since 2014

12/06/2015, 9:45am CST
By ERIC ANDERSON
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They had to work overtime and then some, but the Milwaukee Wave earned a huge win and made a statement Friday night.

Nick Vorberg saved all three shots in a shootout and Marcio Leite scored the lone goal of the tiebreaker session from an acute angle as the Wave outlasted the Missouri Comets 7-6 in a Major Arena Soccer League match in Independence, Mo.

It was the first regular-season loss for the Comets (7-1) since an 18-4 setback against the Baltimore Blast on Feb. 9, 2014, ending the team's 32-game winning streak in non-playoff matches, and Missouri's first regular-season loss in 28 games in the MASL's two-year history.

Ian Bennett had a hat trick for the Wave (3-2), who scored the opener through Max Ferdinand in the first quarter but didn't lead again. Milwaukee fell behind 3-1 and 4-2, but Leite scored late in the first half to pull the visitors within one at halftime and then set up Philip Suprise (Milwaukee Pius) for an equalizer 4:34 into the third.

The Comets went ahead two more times, but the home crowd of 3,311 saw Bennett tie the score each time. His final goal of the night, assisted by rookie Tony Patterson (Menomonee Falls/UW-Green Bay), came with with 2:28 remaining in regulation and Vorberg pulled in favor of Leite as an extra attacker. It was Bennett's team-best ninth goal of the season, tied for fifth in the MASL.

Milwaukee had seemingly won the game on a long-distance blast by Drew Ruggles off a set piece with 6:12 left in the 10-minute overtime, but officials waved off the goal because of a foul. The only other shootout for either team was Dec. 31 at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, when Missouri beat the Wave 2-1 and prevailed 8-7.

Comets goalkeeper Boris Pardo, who kept Milwaukee from scoring on three shootouts in regulation, stopped Bennett in the first round of the shootout.

In the second round, Leite went to the right corner, pulled the ball back and beat Pardo with a right-footed shot to the far post from a tight angle. Vorberg, meanwhile, kept Leo Gibson, Vahid Assadpour and Lucas Rodriguez from scoring.

Vorberg made 18 saves in regulation and overtime for the Wave, who play host to the St. Louis Ambush (0-4) at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at UWM Panther Arena.

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