MILWAUKEE (November 26, 2010)— The Milwaukee Wave winners of the 09-10 regular season title before falling in the finals to the La Raza de Monterrey, coming into the new 2010-2011 season coach Tozer and the team have high expectations, with a opening season victory over the same Comets team in Missouri November 12^th.

With all the fan fair of a season opener Owner Jim Lindenberg started the festivities by presenting Goal Keeper of the year Nick Vorberg his award.

The action got off to a fast start as the wave attacked right away with less then 2 minutes gone McNealy scores the 1^st score on a put backer over the left shoulder of the Comets keeper for a quick 2-0 lead.with 11:28 in the match Ryan Mack slides in front of the net and puts a left foot on the ball and into the goal for a 4-0 Wave lead in the 1^st period.

With 1:49 left in the 1^st period on a line  change for the Wave Matt Stewart gets a rocket of a right foot to go in from dead center of the box to increase the lead to 6-0 at the end of the 1^st period.

To begin the 2^nd the waves Marco Terminesi nails a left foot into the goal to make the score 9-0 with a 3 point rocket from the left hand arch.  The comets countered with a 2 point shot from inside the box by Brian Harris  to make it 9-2 .

The Comets strike again with 1:05 left before the half with a shot by Beasley but the wave counter with a goal :11 seconds later to make the score 11-4 by Hewerton Morieira and that’s how the half ended.

The Wave started the 3^rd weriod with a goal by Kyle lance 3 minute into the period to make the score 13-4.  With 12:02 to play the Comets give up a 2 minute powerplay with too many men on the field,  and the Wave capitalized on it with a goal by Giuliano Oliviero as he hits it off Missouri Comet JoseBirche into the goal for 2 putting the Wave up 15-4, but the Comets counter four seconds later with a goal by Byron Alvarez to make it 15-6 with 9:13 left in the 3^rd.    The Wave get nailed ith a Troy Dusosky foul to put them a man down for two minutes.   The wave were ultra aggressive on the powerplay taking 2 more shots on goal then the Comets and were able to burn the man dis-advantage.

With still 4:15 left in the 3^rd the wave scored again to make it 17-6 on a score by Giuliano Oliviero then Matt Stewart scores with 1;18 in the period to make it 19-6 and that’s how the 3^rd period would end.

The 4^th period started out fast and nasty, fist’s flying but with 10:12 left in the period Gibson steals the ball and launches it over Nick’s head for a score, one in which Nick is very upset at his defender Marcio Leite for the mistake.  Then they come right back again with 7:08 left in the period with a goal by Tiguinho to make it 19-11. at 5:04 in the final period the Comets bring on their sixth attacker…but unfortunately an unassisted 3 point goal by Evan McNeley makes the score 22-11 with 2:00 left then Travis MacKenzie scores another 2 point goal  with 1:11 left and the Comets decided to bring their goal keeper back in but to no avail the wave win 24-11 to open the season 2-0 with both victories over the comets.

  The Wave will play the Chicago Riot next at home at 7:00 p.m. at the US Cellular arena.

MILWAUKEE (November 12, 2010)— The Milwaukee Wave won its season opener 20-9 over the Missouri Comets, starting its MISL regular season title defense on the right foot.

An even-handed attack saw the scoring being spread out amongst seven players. Marcio Leite led the way with seven points, five of those points coming by way of five assists. Ryan Mack and Josh Rife each added four points themselves, while last season's top point-scorer, Giuliano Oliviero, notched a 2-point goal and an assist.

 

“It was important for us to come out strong this season," head coach Keith Tozer said. "I am thrilled that we were able to attack and spread out the scoring.”

 

Tenzin Rampa scored the first goal of the season with Rife and Mack also contributing goals in the first quarter. While the Wave was not able to score in the second quarter, veteran goalkeeper Nick Vorberg held the Comets to just two points in the half as the Wave held a 6-2 lead going into the break.

 

The Wave came out strong in the third quarter scoring six quick points. Leite and Rife both added goals and Oliviero scored his first of the season as the third quarter ended with the Wave leading 12-7. Rampa, Hewerton, J.P. Rodrigues, and Matt Stewart scored goals in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead and help to clinch the season opener 20-9.

 

With the win, Milwaukee marks the second consecutive season it has come out of the opening match — both road tests — victorious, shutting out Monterrey 15-0 on the road last year.

KANSAS CITY (July 12, 2010) – The Major Indoor Soccer League announced today that professional indoor soccer will return to the greater Kansas City Metropolitan area for the upcoming 2010-11 season. The League’s Management Committee has granted unanimous approval to the newest MISL team, the Comets, who will play their home games at the Independence Events Center, located in Independence, MO.

“The MISL is thrilled to be returning to the greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area and excited to have one of the best professional indoor soccer markets as part of our League once again,” said MISL Commissioner David Grimaldi. “Owners Mickey Scheetz, Ed Scheetz and Brian Budzinski are committed to bringing the exciting, high-scoring and affordable game of professional indoor soccer to Independence, MO and making all the fans and supporters of the Comets proud. In spite of the economy, the MISL is again attracting the interest of many cities, arenas and investors. The Comets is only the start, a great start, and we will soon be making further, exciting announcements regarding our growth, expansion and strategic relationships.”

Mickey Scheetz, Chairman of the Board and long-time Portland Oregon business owner and resident has teamed up with his son Ed Scheetz and Brian Budzinski to form Top of the Arc, LLC., the ownership group responsible for bringing the new team to Independence Missouri.

”The return of professional indoor soccer presents a unique opportunity to give back to the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan community,” said Ed Scheetz. “We are excited to partner with the City of Independence and plan to work as hard as possible to provide a fun, family oriented, exciting sports product that gives true value to our fans’ entertainment dollar.”

The Greater Kansas City Metropolitan area has a rich history of indoor soccer, dating back to the 1981-82 season when the Kansas City Comets joined the original MISL under the leadership of Tim Leiweke, presently the CEO of AEG, INC and the LA Galaxy of the MLS. The Comets remained in Kansas City until the completion of the 1990-91 season at which time the Atlanta Attack moved to Kansas City, becoming the Kansas City Attack and competing in the NPSL.  The Attack changed its name back to the Comets for the 2001-02 MISL season and continued playing thru the 2004-05 MISL campaign. For more information on the newest MISL team, visit the team’s website www.missouricomets.com.

The 5,800-seat Independence Events Center features 25 luxury suites and 2,000 paved parking spaces on site and is also home to the Central Hockey League Missouri Mavericks. The events center also hosts concerts, trade shows, professional sporting events, festivals and community ceremonies. For more information on the Independence Events Center, please visit the venue’s website at http://www.independenceeventscenter.com.

 

 

 

 

The first week of the World Cup is now complete and the play has been phenomenal all together. With the United States prepared to take on Slovenia tomorrow, it’s time to reflect on the first week. There has been a lot of little things I have been impressed by so far, but there has also been other tidbits that do the opposite for me. Each person has its own opinions on everything and I, for one, love the vuvuzelas and hate the coaching that Dunga is carrying out for Brazil. I will warn any reader in advance that I will not bash things like Rick Reilly recently did for his column for ESPN (as seen here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5288738). No disrespect to the guy, but I believe a person needs to understand stoppage time before you can poke fun at the idea. With the rise of American soccer on the forefront, here’s my impressions on a week of futbol.

 

Impressed

 

 

 

--Diego Maradona’s coaching: Coming into the World Cup, I was concerned for the blue and white of Argentina because the focus seemed to be on coach Diego Maradona. Coach Maradona did not put some of Argentina’s strongest players on the team including Inter Milan star Javier Zanetti. A lack of defenders has not been a issue so far for Maradona’s mighty men of Argentina as the squad has allowed only one goal in two games thus far. With only Greece to play, Argentina is bound for an opportunity of a World Cup.

 

--Das Germans: Losing captain Michael Ballack a month before the World Cup seemed to put a damper on the parade that the German team was ready to carry out. With a team that returned most of its players from the 2006 team, I remained skeptic of how the team would react to Ballack’s injury. The Germans opened the Cup up with a 4-0 victory over the young Socceroo’s (Australia). The entire team of Germany showed great fluency with the ball and also used crisp passes to each other to find an open shot. Four different players scored in the opening match and coach Low has Germany aimed for a great shot of taking Group D and advancing into the round of 16.

 

--Asian Pride: The set of teams that looked to be the weakest coming in were the teams coming from the continent of Asia. That has not been the case so far. The three actual teams from Asia (not Australia or New Zealand) have looked strong on the defensive end and two of the teams have already won a game in its group play. Japan cruised by Cameroon with the help of Honda’s goal. Japan will need a win over the Netherlands or Denmark to spring into the next round. Even with South Korea getting beatup by Argentina with the score of 4-1, South Korea still has a good shot of making it into the round of 16 with the Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung as its captain. North Korea was ranked lower than any other team in the World Cup heading into play, but the squad impressed me by with its performance against Brazil. Being in the group of death is not an easy task for a team that hasn’t been in a World Cup in over fifty years. I do not believe North Korea will capture any points with games against Portugal or the Ivory Coast, but they have gained the respect from hardcore soccer fans.

 

--Facebook Frenzy: I have noticed all over the Web 2.0 media that the World Cup is gaining enormous popularity here in the United States. Many people forget that the United States hosted this event 16 years ago because so little amount of people cared about soccer. This is one of the few times that I am happy with bandwagon fans since it is for the World Cup. I believe this is exactly what we need in order to push our squad into the next echelon of the top teams in the world. I support the people that never have played soccer but constantly rant about the games each day. I love that people are finding favorite players and buying jerseys. Side note: Ryan Braun has been quoted in saying that soccer was his best sport growing up. Do you believe he could have make the U.S. squad? (please comment below)

 

--Complete Domination (S.A. Style): By S.A., I mean South America and not South Africa. The quick pace style of South America is destroying the slow paced soccer manner that most teams play in this tournament. The teams from South America are yet to lose a game and I would not be shocked in each of the five teams from the continent make the round of 16. After tying with Italy, Paraguay has a strong shot if they have good showings versus lesser opponents, Slovakia and New Zealand. Chile leads Group H and if they beat Switzerland, Chile will also be rocking the round of 16. Uruguay and Argentina look as locks as two of the 16 teams with each team having only a single game remaining. Brazil is ranked number one in the world and are very confident that they have a squad that can win the entire tournament.

 

 

Not Impressed

 

 

 

--The Lack of Vuvuzela Supporters: As I stated in my opening paragraph, I love the vuvuzelas. I don’t find them as a distraction because there is always stadium noise where-ever you go. Just because it is something no other stadium is used to does not make it plausible to ban these instruments. The vuvuzelas are an important mark in South African culture. The majority of players have no real problem with the buzz of the vuvuzelas. I am shocked that more media members do not express their opinion on the matter of the vuvuzelas. There has been many critics of this instrument, but all are foreign to a soccer stage like this.

 

--La Furia Roja: The Red Fury of Spain seemed more fuzzy than fury in its first contest against the Swiss. Spain lacked a real fire in its first contest and I am actually worried that this team may not make it past the group stage. Striker, Fernando Torres, is still coming back from injury and without him, the play of second striker, David Villa, is worsened. He feeds off by being mismatched when Torres is on the pitch, but without him, he gets marked by the defense’s best defender. The midfield lacked real enthusiasm during the game and seemed rather unorganized as the ball kept being played back into the middle. The crowded midfield has to be eased up a bit for Spain’s final two games. I still have confidence in this team because it is the one team with no holes what-so-ever.

 

--Gino’s Azzurri: The team that won the 2006 World Cup has only nine players and only three starters total from its championship team on the 2010 roster. The worse news from that is that one of the three starters is out of shape from being injured the last two seasons and another of the starters is now down with an herniated disk. If Italy actually loses Gianluigi Buffon, I cannot see that squad advancing any farther than the round of 16. The Azzurri also lacks a true striker in its squad and is hurting for goals. Daniele De Rossi scored the only goal in the draw versus Paraguay and he is shown as the future captain of the squad. The Italians will need to be resilient and bounce back with two games versus teams that are not as good as the Azzurri. A match versus New Zealand is the perfect medicine in order to see what this squad is truly made of.

 

--Les Bleus: France looked completely unorganized in its poor effort against Mexico. Les Bleus could not muster a goal in the first game versus Uruguay either. France will need an extreme amount of luck to go on in the World Cup. The team has South Africa left on its schedule and Bafana Bafana would like to add a win to its resume as well. This squad looks like a bunch of players rather than a complete team. They do not rely on team chemistry at all and they also seem very slow. The team that came to the World Cup from ‘the hand of god’ seems like they will be be ousted by the ‘boot of god’.

 

--Dunga: For my final poor impression, I go to the group of death. No one is as famous as Brazil in the style of soccer that they play. Pele groomed this team back in his playing days to play an upbeat style by using many strikers and relying on offense to win titles. The new coach for Brazil has completely debunked that style of play during its World Cup run in 2010. Dunga played defense in his days in Brazil, and defense is the key for Brazil in the 2010 World Cup. Dunga did not elect to put fan favorite, Ronaldinho, on the squad as well as Adriano and others. Next, Dunga is not even running his top striker at his best position. He has Robinho playing attacking midfield rather than knocking in the goals from up top. The style that Dunga has the Brazilians playing is very boring and the lack of goals could come back to haunt them in its attempt for a sixth World Cup trophy.

 

There are still over three weeks remaining in this month long triumph for a victor. I am excited to watch the rest of the matches and I hope you are as well.