Wisconsin Soccer Central

In their first game in three weeks, the Milwaukee Wave needed a comeback and some late heroics to force overtime and then beat the Cedar Rapids Rampage.

The Wave rallied from a three-goal deficit, pulled level on Ian Bennett's goal with 97 seconds left in regulation and posted a 7-6 overtime victory Saturday night thanks to Marcio Leite's hard work and finish 3:07 into the extra session.

Both Bennett and Leite finished the night with hat tricks as Milwaukee (10-5) won its fourth game in a row and improved to 5-1 on its home black turf at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Jonathan Greenfield added three assists and Pablo da Silva had the other goal for the Wave, who returned to action after the long break having already clinched a berth in the Major Arena Soccer League playoffs.

A crowd of 3,826 also saw the return of goalkeeper Marcel Feenstra, who made 15 saves in his first appearance since suffering a torn ACL and MCL in his knee in a match against the Detroit Waza Flo back on Nov. 22, 2014.

The expansion Rampage (3-12) scored the first three goals and led 5-2 at halftime, but Bennett and Leite scored and Da Silva's goal with 6:08 tied the score at 5. Elmo Neto restored Cedar Rapids' advantage with 2:48 remaining, and the Wave pulled Feenstra in favor of Greenfield as a sixth attacker.

Bennett equalized for the home side again with a drive to the far side of the goal from a tight angle on the left boards – it was his team-best 29th goal of the season, second in the league behind only Sonora's Franck Tayou (32).

Leite nearly won it for Milwaukee off a restart in overtime, but clipped his shot just off the inside of the goal. Minutes later, though, he dispossessed Rampage defender Bobby Hurwitz, played a 1-2 with Greenfield in the right corner, cut to the middle and tapped in the game-winner past Cedar Rapids keeper Joe Kapinos.

Milwaukee plays host to the Syracuse Silver Knights (7-6) at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at UWM Panther Arena to continue its five-game homestand. The Wave has just one road game left in the regular season, Feb. 25 at the Dallas Sidekicks.