WAVE HANG ON TO DEFEAT SILVER KNIGHTS

by Christian De Guzman

The Milwaukee Wave ended Syracuse’s first winning streak of the season on Friday night, riding a hot start to defeat the Silver Knights 8-6. Hat tricks from Milwaukee’s Ian Bennett and Robert Renaud propelled the Wave to the club’s seventh straight win.

Milwaukee got off to a great start, scoring the first four goals of the match. Bennett opened the scoring with a goal 39seconds into the first quarter. Sean Totsch doubled the Wave lead with a goal at 4:09 into the quarter, and Renaud would capitalize on a Bryan O’Quinn miscue in the second quarter to make the score 3-0. Totsch tacked on another goal on the power play to put Milwaukee up 4-0.

Syracuse would not go quietly, as Ryan Hall’s squad battled back to score the next three goals of the contest. Antonio Manfut scored from a tight angle on the right side of the field for the first Silver Knights goal. Kenardo Forbes and Slavisa Ubiparipovic scored with via impressive free kicks to pull Syracuse within one. Ubiparipoivic’s goal made the score 4-3with 4:01 gone in the 3rd quarter.

Bennett, the game’s first star, scored on a Wave power play with 9:19 gone in the third quarter, but Forbes responded with a goal 92 seconds later. Milwaukee took command with two more goals in the quarter from Renaud and Bennett,and the Wave took a 7-4 lead into the final quarter.

Down three goals, Syracuse mounted a comeback. Manfut and Moises Gonzalez scored within 45 seconds of each other to pull the Silver Knights within one again. Renaud, the game’s second star, answered with a backheel shot that here directed past O’Quinn and provided the final margin of victory.

Bennett secured his 11th multi-goal game of the season, while Renaud earned his 4th multi-goal of the 2016-17campaign. Bennett also continues to lead the MASL in goals. His three goals on Friday give him 45 on the season.Bennett also moves into the season lead for points in the MASL with 55. Max Ferdinand, the MASL Player of the Month for January, recorded an assist during the game, adding to his MASL leading total of 28.

Forbes, the game’s third star, led the Silver Knights with two goals and an assist, adding to his team lead of 29 points.Manfut’s two goals moved him to second place on the team in goals scored with 16. Despite allowing eight goals, O’Quinn still put up an admirable performance in net, saving 12 shots.

Friday’s game also featured the home debuts of Austin Tom and Ben Ramin, who made their first appearances on Daveand Buster’s field this season. Both saw limited action in the loss on Friday.

With the loss, Syracuse moves into a tie for 2nd place in the MASL Eastern Division. The last six games of the season are crucial for the Silver Knights, as they are all against rivals in the Eastern Division.