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On Saturday night the Mississauga MetroStars were in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on the Milwaukee Wave.
The Wave were 8-2 coming into this match, the second-best record in the league, so the MetroStars already knew they would be in for a tough match. The last time these two sides met, on January 5th, Milwaukee came away with an 8-2 victory at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga.
Josh Lemos, the regular starting goalie for the Wave, was injured in that game, and returned to the team for his first game back on Saturday.
The MetroStars took the first lead of the game just over four minutes into the opening quarter, as Matthew Rios took a pass from Damion Graham, calmly placing the ball past the sprawling Wave keeper.
Four minutes after that, Alex Bradley scored the first goal in what would be a big game for the Englishman, tying the game at 1-1. Isaac Pereyra gave Milwaukee their first lead at 10:07, sending home the rebound after a save from Adrian Becic.
Mo Babouli tied it up again with just 27.6 seconds left in the first quarter, firing a bullet across the goal, finding the left side of the net.
It took over nine minutes of the second quarter, but Milwaukee’s Ian Bennett finally broke the deadlock, just under two minutes before Alex Bradley scored his second of the match, giving the Wave a 4-2 lead going into half time.
It was all Mississauga in the third, as Matthew Rios, Mo Babouli and Damion Graham all found the back of the net for the MetroStars, giving them a 5-4 lead after 45 minutes, and it seemed as though an upset was brewing.
It was not to be, however, as Drew Ruggles evened it up for Milwaukee at 06:12. A few moments later, Adrian Becic went down hurt and needed some treatment. Because he had already received treatment on the pitch earlier in the match, Becic was forced off the pitch by the referees and replaced by Sebastian Zeballos. Zeballos was only on the pitch for 56 seconds, surrendering the winning goal at 10:36 to Alex Bradley, which completed his hat trick and giving the Wave a 6-5 lead. Becic went back out as soon as the ball went in.
The MetroStars pulled Becic in favour of Mo Babouli, who served as the extra attacker for the final few minutes of the game. Ian Bennett scored on Mo with less than a minute left in regulation time, making the score 7-5 and ending all hopes of a Mississauga comeback.
Mississauga now fall to 2-8 on the season, dropping them into last in the Eastern division following the Harrisburg Heat’s unexpected victory against the Baltimore Blast on Saturday night.
They don’t have much time to dwell on their loss, as they are back in action on Sunday night, travelling south to take on the Kansas City Comets. Kickoff is at 5:05 ET.
Both Dwayne De Rosario and Adrian Cann, the two co-captains, are listed as “doubtful” for the game on Sunday. Both missed the game on Saturday, and didn't make the trip. Marco Rodriguez dislocated his shoulder again on Saturday and didn’t return to the match, but is available again for selection on Sunday.