Milwaukee Wave Get New Ownership

Sue Black, who was named president and CEO of the Milwaukee Wave in February, on Wednesday announced she has taken ownership of the indoor soccer team from Jim Lindenberg.

“The more I got to know about the organization and the team and the potential, it just seemed like a natural fit,” Black said.

She made the announcement Wednesday with Lindenberg and coach Keith Tozer. The Wave plays at the U.S. Cellular Arena in downtown Milwaukee.

The terms of the sale are confidential, but it includes ownership of the Wave and its charitable nonprofit organization Wave of Hope.

Black said she is reviewing a number of ways to improve team operations.

“It’s a matter of prioritizing, but I’m being very stealthy about what we tackle first,” she said.

Black in late March said the Wave of Hope organization was a leading factor in attracting her to take the CEO position.

Black said Wednesday that giving back to the community will remain her No. 1 priority.

“The more I got to know the players and the coach and how the team gives back to the community, it’s everything I was looking for,” Black said.

Lindenberg, former owner of World Class Wire & Cable in Waukesha, bought the Wave in 2009. He recruited Black to lead the team while she was hunting for a job after being fired as director of the Milwaukee County Parks system.

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.

Milwaukee Wave In Missouri Tonight For Game 1 Of Playoffs

The MISL playoffs begin tonight, and for the past two seasons the Milwaukee Wave have taken the crown. They will look to hold off three other teams in order to capture their third straight MISL Championship. Their first opponent in their title defense will be the Missouri Comets, who finished the regular season with a 13-13 overall record. Game one takes place at 7:35 p.m. tonight in Missouri. Game two is set for Sunday, March 10th at 3:10 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

"It's going to be tough because they're good offensively; we just have to dig deep play defense, and they'll be ready to go, but so are we," said Wave forward Ian Bennett on the upcoming series against Missouri. The two teams split the regular season series 2-2.

Game one saw Missouri tie the game late in regulation, and come out with a win in overtime. #22 Joe Hammes of the Wave put the Wave up 2-0 on a restart, but that was matched by #23 Byron Alvarez goal to tie things at 2-2. Missouri went on top 4-2 on a goal from #25 Brian Harris, but the Wave regained the lead on a three point goal from #7 Luan Oliveira. The Wave added one more goal to take a 7-4 lead into the second half. #27 Ryan Junge of Missouri tied the game at 7-7 with a three point goal of his own. The Wave went up 11-7 on goals from #10 Jonatan Santos and #28 Jonathan Greenfield. Missouri's Alvarez scored his second goal of the game, and then with a sixth attacker on the field Missouri tied things at 11-11, and the game went into overtime. In the golden goal overtime #15 Coady Andrews of Missouri put one in the net to allow Missouri to come away with a 13-11 win.

In the second meeting the Wave defeated Missouri 18-6. #4 Josh Rife and #24 Marcelo Fontana each scored a goal in the first quarter to give the Wave a 4-0 lead. No scoring occurred in the second, but Milwaukee got things going once again in the third, with goals from Oliveira, and Rife (his second of the game) to make it 8-0. A Missouri score by Alvarez made it 8-2 heading into the final quarter. Hammes and #14 Nick Perera scored to extend the Wave's lead to 13-2. Following those goals Oliveira and Fontana each added their second goals of the game to clinch the win.

The third matchup between the two teams went back and forth until Milwaukee pulled away late to get a 29-15 victory, and home-field advantage in the first round of the MISL Playoffs. Missouri went up 5-0 early on goals by Alvarez and Jeff Hughes. The Wave came back with goals from #25 Israel Sesay and #26 Ian Bennet to put the score at 5-4. Each team added another goal and at the end of the first quarter it was 7-6. #7 Vahid Assadpour pushed Missouri to a 9-6 lead, but the Wave's Fontana cut the deficit to 9-8 with a goal of his own. Harris scored for Missouri, but Wave goals by #79 Hewerton and #21 Giuliano Oliviero gave the Wave a 12-11 halftime lead. Missouri's Assadpour and Milwaukee's Oliveira scored their second goals of the contest, and #8 Fabinho of the Wave hit a three point shot to give them a 17-13 advantage heading into the final quarter. #14 Leo Gibson from Missouri nailed a two point shot to make things interesting at 17-15, but the Wave ran away with the game, scoring 12 straight points en route to the win.

The Wave had a 16 game winning streak heading into the two team's final meeting. That streak came to an end as Missouri won 17-9. Ian Bennett connected on two goals to put Milwaukee in front 4-0 after the first quarter. Missouri came back in the second when Leo Gibson scored two goals of his own, to tie things at 4-4 at the midway point. Missouri gained their first lead of the game in the third quarter on a goal from Byron Alvarez. #18 Bryan Perez of the Wave scored his first goal for the team to tie thing up, but #11 Mads Falck's goal helped Missouri regain the lead at 8-6. Alvarez added his second goal to start the fourth, but Bennett completed his hat trick with a three point goal to put the score at 10-9. That would be as close as the Wave would get, as Vahid Assadpour added two goals, and Gibson completed his hat trick with a three point goal to get Missouri the win.

Comets Snap Wave's Winning Streak

The Missouri Comets took a big step towards the MISL Playoffs with a 17-9 victory against the Milwaukee Wave in front of 3,892 fans at the Independence Events Center on Sunday afternoon. Leo Gibson scored his league-leading sixth hat trick of the season, and the Comets ended a modern-era MISL record 16-game winning streak for the Wave.
The Comets have jumped out to fast starts before, especially at home. Lately though, they have faltered late, dropping four of their last five games. On Sunday night, the Wave jumped out to the fast start. Ian Bennett found himself in the right spot twice in the first nine minutes of the game to bag a pair of goals, while Marcel Feenstra played well in the net for the Wave, saving seven Comets shots and preserving a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was a reverse of the first. The Wave tried to apply pressure on the Comets to put the game away early, and saw several opportunities turned away by Comets defenders, only allowing one shot on goalkeeper Danny Waltman that he was easily able to save.  At the other end, Vahid Assadpour and Gibson paired up twice as Gibson twice found the back of the net, once shorthanded, to tie the game, 4-4, at the midway point.
The Comets then grabbed their first lead of the game early in the second half when Ryan Junge cleared a ball from his defensive zone all the way to a waiting Byron Alvarez on the far yellow line. Collecting the pass, he beat a diving Feenstra only 31 seconds in, making it 6-4. Former Comets forward Bryan Perez, playing in his first game with the Wave, tied it up two minutes later, but the Comets took the lead for good when John Sosa fed a beautiful pass to Mads Falck who buried the shot from the left side into the right corner of the net. His goal put the Comets up 8-6 at the end of three quarters.
The Wave had not entered the fourth quarter on the losing side of the scoreboard very often this season. The Comets knew they needed to keep up the pressure to walk away with a win on the afternoon.  Alvarez helped them do just that, knocking in his second of the night two minutes into the quarter to put the Comets up 10-6.  Bennett completed his hat trick with a 3-point shot three minutes later to get the Wave within 10-9, but Assadpour put Missouri back up by three points when he scored in the eighth minute. Gibson followed that up after that, completing his hat trick, before Assadpour put the final nail in the coffin when he scored a 3-point lob from his own yellow line over the Wave’s sixth attacker with less than 10 seconds remaining.
The 17-9 victory is the Comets’ 11th of the year and the Wave’s third loss. The Comets only need one more victory to assure them of a spot in the MISL’s postseason tournament.
The Comets have two games at home next weekend, facing the Chicago Soul on Friday night at 7:35 p.m. CT and the Wichita Wings on Sunday afternoon at 3:10 p.m. CT.  Friday night is Alan Mayer night, and the team will be honoring one of the best players to ever play for the Comets, goalkeeper Alan Mayer. Sunday is the final game of the I-35 Series, when the Comets look to win the season series between Missouri and Wichita.

Comets Lose Shootout With Milwaukee

The 5,602 fans who came out to U.S. Cellular Arena this afternoon were treated to a very entertaining, high-scoring game. The Comets came out strong, played hard, and kept the Milwaukee Wave on their heels for much of the game, but a couple fourth quarter mistakes and three empty net goals for Milwaukee resulted in the Comets losing 29-15 on the night.

Missouri Comets’ Head Coach Kim Roentved understands his team will make mistakes, as long as they learn from them. Last week, playing the second game in as many days, the team came out on its heels and played flat through most of the game. Tonight, he stressed to his team the importance of playing with high-pressure from the very beginning. The Comets attacked the Milwaukee Wave on every possession and jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a three point goal from Jeff Hughes and a rebound goal from Byron Alvarez. The Wave climbed back with two goals of their own to cut the lead to 5-4, but Mads Falck took a pass from Hughes to regain a three point lead. Luan Oliviera scored his first goal of the night with five minutes remaining to once again keep it a one-point game, 7-6 in favor of the Comets.

The second quarter continued the back-and-forth action, Vahid Assadpour and Brian Harris scored for the Comets. Each time though, Milwaukee answered back with goals from Marcelo Fontana and Hewerton. Guiliano Oliviero scored with two minutes remaining in the half to give the Wave the first lead of the game, 12-11.

The Comets showed no fatigue from having to play a tough battle last night at home, as they opened up the second half.  It only took thirty-five seconds for Assadpour to find the net. The Wave once again answered right back twenty seconds later. Fabinho Ribeiro scored a three point goal on a restart late in the third quarter and took the Wave into the third quarter break with a 17-13 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter Lucas Rodriguez got tangled up with the Wave forward and was sent to the penalty box, putting the Comets on a two minute penalty kill. Many teams choose to fall into a defensive shell when they are a man-down. The Comets choose to push the ball out and catch the opposing team by surprise. Leo Gibson did just that tonight, stealing the ball from the Wave and beating Milwaukee goalkeeper Marcel Feenstra for the Comets’ fifth short-handed goal of the season. That was the final highlight of the night for the Comets though. Down 17-15, they increased the pressure, even adding goalkeeper Danny Waltman to the attack on occasion. Israel Sesay scored his second goal of the game in the seventh minute, bringing on Assadpour as the Comets’ sixth attacker.

The Wave added four empty net goals to close out the fourth quarter. Although the final score was 29-15, the Comets gave the Milwaukee Wave everything they could handle through much of the game.  The team returns to the Independence Events Center on February 10th at 3:10pm.

Wave Pummel Comets

The Milwaukee Wave came into the game as the MISL’s hottest team, winning eight straight games.  The Comets were unable to slow down their momentum. Milwaukee’s Luan Oliveira and Josh Rife each scored two goals while goalkeeper Nick Vorberg tallied 23 saves to hand the Comets their second home loss of the season, 18-6.

Against Wichita last week, the Comets worked the ball out of their defensive zone extremely fast, catching their opponent off guard several times. Milwaukee was ready for this strategy and made the Comets work to get the ball out of their end. Anytime a Comets defender received a ball he was immediately met by a Wave player trying to push him off the ball. Though the Comets tried to battle back, their efforts were usually rewarded with a whistle and a foul.

Coady Andrews’ trip in the first quarter put the Comets down a man early and led to the Wave’s first goal, only three minutes into the game. Marcelo Fontana snuck behind the defense and tucked a ball inside the post two minutes later to give the Wave a 4-0 lead.

Neither team added to the score the remainder of the half. The Comets had chances, but anytime their shot made it past the Wave’s goalkeeper, his defense was there to keep the ball off the line.

The second half was filled with Wave goals and more penalties. Missouri’s Vahid Assadpour and Milwaukee’s Hewerton tangled early in the third quarter, leading to a two minute penalty for each of them. Byron Alvarez joined him shortly after that as he got called for Striking.  Before he made it out, Leo Gibson was thrown in the box for tripping. Josh Rife finally capitalized on all these penalties just as Alvarez made it back onto the field.

Back at full strength, the Comets were able to get on the board with two goals from Alvarez and one from John Sosa. Unfortunately, that was not enough as the Wave scored three times against the Comets’ sixth attacker and win 18-6. With two goals, Alvarez takes over the league lead in goals scored and points.

The Comets are back in action at Wichita’s Hartman Arena on Saturday night, 7:35pm.  They return home next Saturday, January 19th in the annual Retro Game. The players will be wearing jerseys inspired by the 1992-93 NPSL Champion Kansas City Attack. Fans can take these jerseys home with them in a LIVE auction immediately following the game.  At halftime Comets and Attack alumni will play a spirited exhibition game.  Kickoff is at 7:35pm and fans can get tickets by calling 855.KC.ARENA or going to CometsIndoorSoccer.com.

Comets Win Overtime Thriller

Fans at the US Cellular Arena were treated to a match between two powerhouse teams this afternoon.  The Missouri Comets, coming off 2 straight wins against Wichita, and the defending champion Milwaukee Wave battled into overtime for the winner of this early season game. Down by as much as 11-7, the Comets came back, scoring the equalizing goal with :33 seconds left in regulation.They completed the comeback two and a half minutes into overtime and will go home 13-11 victors.

Ask any player on the Missouri Comets’ roster and they all have very high expectations for this season.  Today’s match against the Milwaukee Wave was looked at as the first big challenge to those expectations. The first quarter proved how close these two teams were as they battled back and forth throughout the quarter.  The league’s best team on restarts a year ago, The Milwaukee Wave got things going early with a restart goal from Joe Hammes 10 minutes into the quarter. Byron Alvarez answered 2 minutes later with a goal from Coady Andrews and the period ended 2-2.

Coach Kim Roentved instituted a high-pressure offense in the second quarter that threw the Wave off their game early. Several miscues and giveaways gave the Comets many chances, but Wave goalkeeper, Marcel Feenstra, was able to get in front of every shot. Brian Harris was able to convert 9 minutes into the game for the 4-2 lead. However, the Wave solved the high pressure and got goals from rookie Luan Sales Oliveira (a 3 pointer) and Pablo just before halftime. At the break the Comets found themselves down 7-4.

Comebacks are not a new thing for Missouri this season, after spotting early leads in both of their matches so far. Knowing that Wave coach Keith Tozer’s knack for making halftime adjustments, the Comets sat back at the start of the third quarter to see how the Wave attack would form. As the Wave attacked down the middle of the field, Ryan Junge snuck out to the corner and fired a shot from the three point arc that traveled all the way along the wall and in. The tied score would not last however; Jonatan Santos beat Comets’ goalkeeper, Danny Waltman moments later and the Wave still had the lead 9-7, when the quarter ended.

Fourth quarter magic has been the team’s mantra all season. They will fight to the end, and nearly did when a pushing match erupted at the benches. When the ruckus was sorted out, both teams were a man down, playing four-on-four soccer. The Wave’s Feenstra found Jonathan Santos behind the Comets defense and he was able to beat Waltman, putting the Comets down 11-7. The Comets roared back though and controlled play throughout the remainder of the quarter. Captain Vahid Assadpour found Byron Alvarez at the post on a restart and Will John tied it up with 33 seconds remaining.

In overtime the Comets gave up a top-of-the-arc free kick only 35 seconds in and the fans in attendance were hoping for a quick end to the “sudden-death” period. They were disappointed however as the Comets defense came up big, blocking any shot the Wave had at the goal. Moments later Missouri defender Cristiano blew a hole in his shoe defending against the Wave offensive pressure.  Coady Andrews quickly subbed in and found himself all alone at the midfield stripe. Luckily Alvarez saw him and hurriedly passed the ball to the streaking Andrews. With only Feenstra to beat he touched the ball just to the side of the sliding goalkeeper and easily put the ball in the net, capping the Comets third straight win, 13-11.

Missouri returns home to the Independence Events Center on Friday night, November 16th at 7:35pm to face the visiting Syracuse Silver Knights. It is Blue Out Night and fans are encouraged to wear their Comets Blue as they root on their hometown team.

Comets Head To Face Wave

The Missouri Comets travel to Milwaukee for a Sunday afternoon match against the defending MISL Champions, the Milwaukee Wave. The Wave will be playing in front of their home crowd for the first time since they clinched the MISL Championships last March. The Comets enter the game with a 2-0 record after sweeping their opening series against the Wichita Wings last weekend.

Although Wichita is generally regarded as the Comets’ main rival, the competition with the Wave has been some of the more heated of the past two seasons. The last time these two teams faced each other was last season in the MISL Central Division Championship. The Wave poured on the pressure early in Game 1 and won 27-10 in KC, but the second game in Milwaukee, the Comets battled the entire game only to fall just short 9-7.

Both teams will have slightly different lineups this season, but neither will be lacking for offensive firepower and defensive fortitude. The Wave return All-MISL Second Team selection Joe Hammes, All-Rookie Team selection Nick Perera and Goalkeeper of the Year Finalist, Marcel Feenstra. Missing from their powerful attack will be Midfielder/Forward, Marcio Leite who is starting the season on injured reserve.

Current MISL Player of the Week, Comets Midfielder Vahid Assadpour leads his team into Milwaukee with confidence stemming from two strong wins on the season. Goalkeeper Danny Waltman, along with his defense led by Brian Harris and Leo Gibson, are ready to face the defending champions.

“Until someone knocks them out, they are the team to beat,” said Assadpour. “We feel good about our team, though, and if anyone can do it…we think we are the ones to get it done.”

Fans can watch the game live Sunday at 3 p.m. CT on Time Warner Cable Metro Sports 2, channel 311 and follow along with the team’s official gameday twitter account (@CometsGameday). The broadcast can also be seen on MISLNation.com.

Comets Take On Defending Champions

The Missouri Comets travel to Milwaukee for a Sunday afternoon match against the Defending MISL Champions, the Milwaukee Wave. The Wave will be playing in front of their home crowd for the first time since they clinched the MISL Championships last March. The Comets enter the game with a 2-0 record after sweeping their opening series against the Wichita Wings last weekend.

Although Wichita is generally regarded as the Comets' main rival, the competition with the Wave has been some of the more heated of the past two seasons. The last time these two teams faced each other was last season in the MISL Central Conference Championships. The Wave poured on the pressure early in Game 1 and won 27-10 in KC, but the second game in Milwaukee, the Comets battled the entire game only to fall just short 9-7.

Both teams will have slightly different lineups this season, but neither will be lacking for offensive firepower and defensive fortitude. The Wave return All-MISL Second Team selection Joe Hammes, All-Rookie Team selection Nick Perera and Goalkeeper of the Year Finalist, Marcel Feenstra. Missing from their powerful attack will be Midfielder/Forward, Marcio Leite who is starting the season on injured reserve.

Current MISL Player of the Week, Comets Midfielder Vahid Assadpour leads his team into Milwaukee with confidence stemming from two strong wins on the season. Goalkeeper Danny Waltman, along with his defense led by Brian Harris and Leo Gibson, are ready to face the defending champions.

"Until someone knocks them out, they are the team to beat," said Assadpour. "We feel good about our team, though, and if anyone can do it...we think we are the ones to get it done."

Fans can watch the game live Sunday at 3:00pm on Time Warner Cable Metro Sports 2, channel 311 and follow along with the team's official gameday twitter account at twitter.com/CometsGameday. The broadcast can also be seen on MISLNation.com.