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Rampa helps Wave rally, then hold off Ambush for third straight win

01/11/2016, 5:45pm CST
By ERIC ANDERSON
Tenzin Rampa

Back home at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena after sweeping two matches during a mid-week trip to California, the Milwaukee Wave took a while to get going against the St. Louis Ambush in a Major Arena Soccer League game Saturday night.

But Tenzin Rampa (Madison West/UW-Milwaukee) set up two goals in less than 2 minutes midway through the third quarter as the home team pulled level, then made a highlight-reel, goal-line clearance in the final minutes to help Milwaukee fend off the Ambush 5-3 in front of a season-best crowd of 3,861.

Defender Jonathan Greenfield scored his first two goals of the season, Ian Bennett also added two to boost his league-leading total to 26 and Pablo da Silva scored what proved to be the game-winner 4:21 into the fourth quarter for the Wave (9-5).

St. Louis (1-9) led 3-1 after Lucas Almeida's goal 5:54 after halftime, but Rampa assisted on Greenfield's goal at the 8:18 mark and Bennett's at 10:08 as Milwaukee equalized heading into the final period. Da Silva gave the Wave the lead off a great feed from Tony Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW-Green Bay), and Milwaukee held on to the slim advantage until Bennett's goal sealed the outcome with 41 seconds left.

The Ambush were inches away from tying the score with about 90 seconds remaining. Chad Vandegriffe was in mid-air on the right side when he flicked a shot toward the net that floated over Wave goalkeeper Nick Vorberg. But Rampa, defending at the back post, kept the ball out of the goal with a left-footed bicycle kick. (Watch below) The acrobatic clearance was No. 1 on ESPN's "SportsCenter" Top 10 Plays of the Night.

Vorberg finished with seven saves as Milwaukee limited St. Louis to just 10 shots on goal in its third straight victory. Stephen DeRoux, a former Major League Soccer player who's been playing in North American Soccer League and spent the past few indoor seasons with the Baltimore Blast, made his debut for the Wave.

After the busy week, Milwaukee has three weeks off before continuing a five-game homestand against the expansion Cedar Rapids Rampage on Jan. 30.

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