The Thursday night MASL Central Division Championship featured two bitter old rivals when the Missouri Comets and Milwaukee Wave met in a single elimination game for the right to play the Baltimore Blast on Friday. The higher seeded Comets hosted the match after finishing the regular season with a perfect 20-0 record, and the home cooking on display clearly helped the Comets.
These teams met three times during the regular season and all three games were very physical and close. The first meeting saw Missouri win 9-7 on two fourth quarter goals in the final 8 minutes. On New Year's Eve, these teams played one of the best games of the season. The Wave tied the game right before time ran out to send it to overtime. Milwaukee had a chance to win it with a last second shootout in overtime, but Danny Waltman stood strong sending it to a shootout decision. Waltman came up big stopping three of four attempts to seal the victory.
In this match, three minutes into the opening quarter, Vahid Assadpour put the Missouri up with a slick transition goal, but Tony Walls of Milwaukee beat goalkeeper Danny Waltman at the near post just a minute later. The first quarter set the tone for a what looked to be a battle for the rest of the game. Both teams stood strong on the defensive end. The best scoring chance came when Assadpour found Leo Gibson in the box, but the Wave defense closed him down and stopped his shots short. Alain Matinou turned the resultinga loose ball into a great strike that went off the crossbar before hitting the keeper who made the save as the ball was on the line.
Keil Williams opened the second quarter with a hard earned goal 13 seconds in. Three defenders tried to stop him, but he found his way past them all to get space for a long range goal from near the top of the box. The defensive pressure continued from both teams, but Mantigou found Bryan Perez for the third goal for the Comets on the night. After some fancy footwork and a nice pass, Perez got the easy tap in.
With less than six minutes left in the second quarter, the Wave's concentration broke as they received a two minute penalty for a substitution violation. On the power play, Josh Gardner got a strong cross in that Milwaukee keeper Nick Vorberg let go. His defender was caught by surprised and deflected the ball in for a Comets' goal just seconds into the advantage. A decent attack by Milwaukee led to a break away by the Comets, but Assadpour’s pass wasn’t enough as Victor Quiroz cut it off in the Wave's defense. Leo Gibson, the league's leading scorer, kept fighting for the ball and found a Assadpour streaking forward and assisted the 5th Comet goal with just ten seconds left in the half.
Brian Harris opened the third quarter scoring with a powerful blast from range that curled into the top corner freezing Vorberg as he watched it go by. Midway through the third, the Comets went on their power-play and peppered the Milwaukee goal. It was not until the dying second that Gibson finally converted on a shot of the board and the goalkeeper and then in. Josh Garnder passed up a great chance at goal to earn the assist. Missouri's two goals effectively put the game out of reach for the Wave.
In a move of total desperation to keep the season alive, Milwaukee went to the sixth attacker on their first possession of the fourth quarter. Jonathan Greenfield came in for the move that is typically reserved for late game when only a goal or two is needed to tie the game. The tactic paid off in two minutes as Stefan St Louis scored his first goal of the night. Following the goal, the Comets regained their composure on the defensive end and started holding possession. After killing five minutes off the clock, Brian Harris was taken down on a breakaway by Luan Oliveira for a blue card. The two minute power-play yielded two short handed opportunities for the Wave and no goal for the Comets. In the final minute, Matingou and Assadpour got a breakaway and converted an easy goal.
The Comet's victory is their 21st on the season as they advance to the Eastern Conference final against Baltimore. It also marks the second straight year they have had to beat Milwaukee to advance to face the Blast. Despite the great victory, the Comets have no time to celebrate. The Eastern Conference Championship series starts on Friday night in Baltimore.
Baltimore and Missouri met in the 2014 MISL Championship series with Missouri hosting the first leg. Missouri got the better of the Blast in game one, but Baltimore turned the tables in game two and put it out of reach early. The resulting game three was a battle throughout the fifteen minutes, but Missouri got a two goal lead and held on for the Victory. The Eastern Conference Championship series will be the first meetings these two teams have had since MISL Championship series last spring.