It looks like the Major Indoor Soccer League Central Division playoff series could be quite the battle.

Vahid Assadpour had a hat trick and goalkeeper Danny Waltman made 24 saves as the Missouri Comets held off the Milwaukee Wave 17-14 Sunday afternoon in front of a season-high crowd of 5,964 at U.

The Missouri Comets had gotten their magic number down to 1 on Friday with their win over the Baltimore Blast. They didn't wait long to make make that magic number 0. The Comets took care of business today in Milwaukee, defeating the Wave 17-14 to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
The Wave grabbed an early 2-0 lead on the power play less than 5 minutes into the quarter.

The Missouri Comets had gotten their magic number down to 1 on Friday with their win over the Baltimore Blast. They didn't wait long to make make that magic number 0. The Comets took care of business today in Milwaukee, defeating the Wave 17-14 to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
The Wave grabbed an early 2-0 lead on the power play less than 5 minutes into the quarter.

The Missouri Comets magic number for clinching a playoff birth this year is now down to 1, after an 18-9 win over the Baltimore Blast at the Independence Event Center. The win, coupled with a 6-3 loss to the Milwaukee Wave in Milwaukee leaves the Comets 1 win or 1 Wichita loss away from clinching a spot in the playoffs this year.

The Milwaukee Wave's league-leading attack sputtered after a strong start Friday night, but that didn't stop the Wave from clinching the Major Indoor Soccer League Central Division title.

Marco Terminesi had a hand in all three goals, setting up the first two and scoring the third, and goalkeeper Nick Vorberg allowed just one late goal on a deflected shot as the Wave held off the Wichita Wings 6-3 in front of 3,241 fans at U.

On Saturday February 4th the Milwaukee Wave proved exactly why they are the defending MISL Champions by throttling the Eastern division Champs 22-8. Baltimore's usually stout defense found themselves...
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The last time the Baltimore Blast visited U.S. Cellular Arena, they shut out the Milwaukee Wave for the final 50 minutes and dealt the home team its first loss of the season.

Those points appeared to provide some motivation for the Wave on Saturday night.

Greg Howes had a goal and two assists in a seven-goal first quarter as Milwaukee raced out to a 14-0 lead and thumped the Blast 22-8 in a Major Indoor Soccer League match watched by 4,707 fans at U.

By Joel Greenwaldt @JoelGreenwaldt (On Twitter) Baltimore Blast (14-4) vs. Milwaukee Wave (14-2) Game Time: 2/4/2012 7:00 PM http://www.misllivesoccer.com/ Keys to victory...
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Latest crowd figures from the Major Indoor Soccer League, where Rochester has taken over the lead from Baltimore. The Blast has led its league in average attendance in each of the last seven years.

Team G Total Avg. Med Hi Lo Rochester Lancers 9 48,961 5,440 5,212 6,997 3,997 Baltimore Blast 10 53,769 5,377 5,740 8,078 2,316 Missouri Comets 8 33,340 4,168 3,640 8,276 2,853 Milwaukee Wave 9 33,591 3,732 3,316 5,416 3,059 Wichita Wings 10 34,903 3,490 3,350 5,000 2,000 Syracuse Silver Knights 8 22,569 2,821 2,637 3,670 2,317 Norfolk SharX 8 11,574 1,447 1,082 3,422 635 MISL TOTAL 62 238,707 3,850 3,461 8,276 635

The league is projecting to finish at slightly under last year's average of 4,007 per game.

Apparently I'm "soccer historian," which I'll take. Though there are others (like Colin Jose, Dave Litterer, Roger Allaway and Steve Holroyd).

Anyway, Milwaukee Wave head coach Keith Tozer won his 700th indoor game Sunday as the Wave beat Rochester 26-10.

Ian Bennett had a hat trick and the Milwaukee Wave allowed just two goals over the final three quarters en route to a 25-10 victory over the Syracuse Silver Knights on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Arena, giving legendary coach Keith Tozer his 700th career victory.

Tozer is the winningest coach in indoor soccer history with a 700-433 record in 27 seasons, the past 19 with the Wave.

By Joel Greenwaldt
@JoelGreenwaldt (On Twitter)
At this point of the MISL season, it's safe to say that barring an unprecedented collapse by one or both teams, the Milwaukee Wave and Baltimore Blast will win their respective divisions. While it's no surprise that either of these teams will likely be the top seed in their respective semifinal playoff match ups, the biggest shocker may be that the race for the top spot in each division has virtually been secured this early in the season.

Six of the seven matches to be played this MISL season between the Milwaukee Wave and the Wichita Wings are now done and dusted. The first five games were played with real fervor and desire to win from both clubs. It wasn't until game six this past Thursday, that both teams had seen enough of each other.

Marco Terminesi had a goal and an assist as the Milwaukee Wave scored four times in a 1:51 span midway through the second quarter to take control and went on to a 16-13 victory over the host Wichita Wings in a Major Indoor Soccer League game Thursday night.

Greg Howes scored his team-best 14th and 15th goals of the season and added an assist for the Wave (13-2), who finished 4-1 on their five-game road trip and increased their lead over the Missouri Comets in the Central Division to four games with nine matches left to play.

The Indoor Soccer News Weekly MISL Power Rankings are sponsored by:
By Joel Greenwaldt
@JoelGreenwaldt (Twitter)
Each week during the season I'll post an updated MISL Power Ranking which will be based off the cumulative results and current strength of each team.

Milwaukee Wave forward Ian Bennett, who had a hand in 10 goals last week, was named the Major Indoor Soccer League Player of the Week.

He's the second Milwaukee player to earn the weekly award this season: Defender Joe Hammes (Cedarburg) was honored Dec. 13.

The 28-year-old Bennett had four goals and six assists as the Wave won two of three matches to improve their league-best record to 12-2.

MISL NEWS RELEASE: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Milwaukee's Bennett Named Player of the Week Recorded 15 points as the Wave took a pair of victories from three games
TAMPA, Fla. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Milwaukee Wave forward Ian Bennett had been named the league's Player of the Week for the 12th week of the 2011-12 season.

For the second time in three years, Lakeland is looking for a new soccer coach.

Tony Pierce, the former Milwaukee Wave standout goalkeeper who coached the Muskies' men's and women's teams for the past two seasons, resigned from the Sheboygan college earlier this month.

A news release from the school indicated Pierce was leaving to pursue opportunities closer to his home in Green Bay.

Greg Howes opened and closed the scoring, and goalkeeper Marcel Feenstra made 19 saves as the Milwaukee Wave bounced back to beat the host Wichita Wings 9-6 in a Major Indoor Soccer League game Saturday night in the second of three straight meetings between the teams.

Giuliano Oliveiro also scored, defender Joe Hammes added a 3-pointer and Marcio Leite had two assists for Milwaukee (12-2), which dropped an 18-16 decision to the Wings (6-9) on Friday night.

The host Wichita Wings scored the final nine points, including Kevin Ten Eyck's winning 3-pointer with 2:02 remaining, to stun the Milwaukee Wave 18-16 in a Major Indoor Soccer League game watched by 3,200 fans Friday night.

Ian Bennett's second goal of the game, his team-best 12th of the season, gave the Wave (11-2) a 16-9 lead 7:13 into the second half.

The Indoor Soccer News Weekly MISL Power Rankings are sponsored by:
By Joel Greenwaldt
@JoelGreenwaldt (Twitter)
Each week during the season I'll post an updated MISL Power Ranking which will be based off the cumulative results and current strength of each team.

By: Peter Espinosa
Thirteen hours is the time it takes for the bus to leave Hartman Arena on its way to US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Wings have made three of their scheduled four trips to play the Milwaukee Wave this season and before they venture into the champions house again, the Wave will play in Wichita three times in one week.

Watching the Tide Roll In.
By Shane Badger
Rochester fans were treated to a wonderful display of tension, speed and accuracy Monday night as the Milwaukee Wave showed their skills against the Rochester Lancers.
After a ten-six loss at their last matchup the Lancer squad was ready to even the odds as they broke out to score first.

The Milwaukee Wave have the top offense in the Major Indoor Soccer League, even if they don't have any of the league's top scorers.

The defending champions showed off their deep attack again Monday night, as Marco Terminesi scored four goals and Nick Perera and Ian Bennett added two apiece in a 23-10 victory over the host Rochester Lancers in a match watched by 5,212 fans.

Greg Howes snapped a tie early in the fourth quarter, Matt Stewart added a late insurance goal and the Milwaukee Wave held Syracuse scoreless for the final period as they held off the host Silver Knights 15-12 in a Major Indoor Soccer League match Friday night in front of 2,437 fans.

The Indoor Soccer News Weekly MISL Power Rankings are sponsored by:
By Joel Greenwaldt
@JoelGreenwaldt (Twitter)
Each week during the season I'll post an updated MISL Power Ranking which will be based off the cumulative results and current strength of each team.

MISL NEWS RELEASE: Tuesday, January 10, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Baltimore Blast forward Adauto Neto had been named the league's Player of the Week for the 10th week of the 2011-12 season.

Meet the Mohegan Warrior
By Shane Badger
I had a chance Tuesday evening to catch up with Elliot Fauske the Lancers sharp Defensive midfielder, dubbed the Mohegan warrior by his fans in the Cavalry supporters club for both his hair style and his tendancy to scalp the ball from his opponents feet.

The Missouri Comets found themselves in a position they've been in quite a few times this season, trailing by a few goals with little time left in the game. Last night in Milwaukee it was the 9 points as the Wave took an 11-2 lead early in the 4th quarter before the Comets made a comeback to cut the lead to 11-7 by the final whistle.

Marco Terminesi had a goal and an assist for his first points of the season, and Nick Perera and Ian Bennett also added three points apiece Friday night as the Milwaukee Wave bounced back from their first loss by beating the Missouri Comets 11-7 in a Major Indoor Soccer League match watched by 3,549 at U.

By Joel Greenwaldt
The Baltimore Blast announced on December 16 that forward Matt Watson would be released from his contract effective January 1 so that he could join Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Watson, a member of the Blast for the past five-plus seasons, played his final game at the First Mariner Arena that December evening and remained with the club through their New Year's Eve victory against the Milwaukee Wave.

By Joel Greenwaldt
In a match up that was billed by many as the must see game of the season, the Baltimore Blast and Milwaukee Wave battled fiercely for 60 minutes in a game that lived up to it's billing. Baltimore was able to secure a hard fought 9-4 victory over Milwaukee, and at the same validated their belief that they are the best team in the MISL.

By: Brandon Arendt
Rivals clash for the third time this season when the Milwaukee Wave play host to the Missouri Comets at the US Cellular Arena at 7:00 PM. Milwaukee is looking to extend their division lead over their Central Division rivals. All the while Missouri will be looking to simultaneously extend their lead over Wichita and draw closer to Milwaukee in the mid-season standings.

By Joel Greenwaldt
Each week during the season I'll post an updated MISL Power Ranking which will be based off the cumulative results and current strength of each team. Here's my rankings heading into Week 10.
#1 Milwaukee Wave (8-1, 1st Place MISL Central Division)
Milwaukee dropped their first game of the season to the Baltimore Blast on Saturday afternoon by a score of 9-4.

The Milwaukee Wave's Nick Vorberg was named the Major Indoor Soccer League Goalkeeper of the Month for December.

Vorberg was 2-0 with a 7.50 points-against average in the month, as he allowed seven goals in 120 minutes and earned his 100th career win for the Wave.

TAMPA, Fla. – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced its Players of the Month for December on Monday, with the Rochester Lancers' Mauricio Salles being named the Offensive Player of the Month, the Syracuse Silver Knights' Jeff Hughes being named Defensive Player of the Month and the Milwaukee Wave's Nick Vorberg being named Goalkeeper of the Month.

The first 10 minutes of the Milwaukee Wave's annual New Year's Eve Day game Saturday went great for the home team.

But the rest of the afternoon belonged to the Baltimore Blast.

Max Ferdinand scored to start the Blast's comeback and assisted on the tying goal, Stephen DeRoux and Pat Healey had second-half goals and Baltimore blanked the Wave over the final three quarters en route to a 9-4 victory in front of a season-high crowd of 5,304 at U.

By Joel Greenwaldt
Baltimore Blast (7-3) vs. Milwaukee Wave (8-0)
Game Time: 12/31/2011 3:00 PM
http://www.misllivesoccer.com/
What needs to go right for the Blast:

• Continue to take advantage of the power play: Baltimore is currently ranked first in the MISL with a 50% success rate when they have the power play advantage.

By Joel Greenwaldt
Each week during the season I'll post an updated MISL Power Ranking which will be based off the cumulative results and current strength of each team. Here's my rankings heading into Week 9. Week 9 Rankings through 12/28 games.
#1 Milwaukee Wave (8-0, 1st Place MISL Central Division)
Milwaukee was able to grind out a hard fought victory on the road over the Rochester Lancers on Wednesday evening.

The Milwaukee Wave were held to a season-low point total Tuesday night, but it didn't keep them from extending their perfect start to the season.

Marcio Leite scored his team-high 10th goal of the season and the Wave allowed just three goals as they knocked off the host Rochester Lancers 10-6 in a Major Indoor Soccer League match watched by 6,997.