Wave Rally For Overtime Victory Over Comets

The Milwaukee Wave scored six consecutive goals to rally for a 12-10 overtime victory against the Missouri Comets on Thursday night in Game 1 of their semifinal series of the MISL Playoffs at the Independence Events Center. Hewerton scored a hat trick, including the game-tying goal with 20.6 seconds to play, while Giuliano Oliviero scored the game-winning goal for the Wave 8:48 into overtime, putting his side one win away from a return to the MISL Championship Series.

The Comets high-pressure approach to the game early forced mistakes from the Wave that created early opportunities for the hosts. Coady Andrews started things off when he recovered a rebound from a Byron Alvarez shot. Milwaukee goalkeeper Nick Vorberg cheated far to his left to try and block the shot, leaving the rest of the goal wide open for Andrews. As the first quarter ticked down, Jeff Hughes stole the ball from the Wave defense and found a streaking Milan Ivanovic on the right side of the goal. Ivanovic wasted no time and hit a one-timer into the back of the goal, giving the Comets a 4-0 lead at the end of the first.

The Comets remained strong in the second quarter. Hughes got his second assist of the night when he and Mads Falck streaked down the field uncontested towards the Milwaukee goal. The Wave’s Vorberg tried to cut off the angle as he attacked Hughes, but the speedy midfielder was able to push the ball over to Falck who finished the opportunity. A few minutes later, Hughes stepped up to the plate and scored himself, this time on a diving header from forward Byron Alvarez on the power play to give his side an 8-0 halftime lead.

As the second half started, the Comets seemed to be in control, especially after Robert Palmer scored his first MISL goal to put Missouri up 10-0. As the defending champions, however, the Wave were not ready to go home yet. Slowly they chipped away at the Comets' lead as goals by Hewerton and Oliviero brought the Wave to within six points at the end of the third quarter.

The Comets were unable to maintain their high-energy attack in the fourth quarter, and the Wave wrested away control through goals by Hewerton and Luan Oliviero in the first seven minutes of the quarter. With the score 10-8, Missouri seemed to settle down and played a ball-control game, hoping for the clock to tick down to the end. Pulling their goalkeeper in favor of a sixth attacker, the Wave put everything into the attack as the seconds ticked down, and their persistence was rewarded when Hewerton was able to complete his hat trick with only 20.6 seconds to play, sending the game to overtime.

The Comets seemed to be reenergized in the extra period, making several attacks that nearly ended the game. Goalkeeper Danny Waltman was at the top of his game as well, stopping several Milwaukee shots without allowing dangerous rebounds. Ultimately, however, Guiliano Oliviero placed a far-post shot from the left side in the only place he could fit it and won the game for Milwaukee.

The series shifts to Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT. If the Comets can pull off the win in Game 2, there will be a 15 minute ‘mini-game’ to decide the series winner. Fans are invited to watch the game with the Comets Nation fan group at Coach’s Bar & Grille.