WAVE HANDS UCFC FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON IN MILWAUKEE THURSDAY NIGHT.

The first of three meetings this season between Utica City FC and the Milwaukee Wave started off like an intricate chess match as both teams exchanged goals and leads throughout the first half.

Frank Tayou opened the scoring for Utica City with an unassisted tally three minutes into the first quarter. Milwaukee’s Salvador Nunez then equalized with 8:32 left on the clock, quickly followed by a Steven Fernandez goal just a minute late to regain the lead for UCFC. Mario Alvarez equalized twenty seconds later taking the ball from his own yellow line, to the Utica yellow line, firing past the shielded Wilkin.

Utica opened the scoring four minutes into the second half with a goal by Mo Ndiaye. Later In the quarter a too many men penalty issued to Utica saw the Wave capitalize with a power play goal by Ian Bennett.

The Wave took their first lead of the night when Dylan Hundelt was called for a delayed two minute penalty. The ensuing pass from Javi Steinwascher found Stuart Grable who caught goalie Brian Wilkin off guard as his shot found the back post for a 4-3 lead. A short lived lead however, as Ronaldinho Diniz countered Milwaukee from inside his own yellow line and finished a powerful shot far post to equalize at 4 just 49 seconds before the halftime buzzer sounded. 

The second half started with two consecutive goals from Milwaukee less than 3 minutes into the half. The first coming from Javi Steinwascher who used his chest to meet a Shawn Azcueta cross into the box. The second was a defensive clearance gone awry as Marcio Leite fired just above the arch to take a 6-4 advantage.

Milwaukee would hold on to a two goal advantage going into the final frame. 

Just seventeen seconds into the 4th Nilton Andrade scored Utica’s first of two shorthanded goals due to another Too Many Men penalty issued to the bench. 

Thirty seconds later, though Milwaukee would regain the two goal advantage with a power play goal from Ricardo Carvalho, at 14:12 of the 4th quarter. 

Breno Olivieria then contributed to the scoring just one minute later with an even strength goal to bring the score to 8-5.

Ronaldinho Diniz scored the second short hand goal for Utica 6 minutes into the 4th to reduce the deficit to just two goals. 

With 9:08 remaining in the fourth, Ben Ramin scored from just above the arch with a low shot past Wilkin to bring Milwaukee’s lead back up to 3. His second in his last three games. 

Keaton Woods would add one more with just over 3 minutes remaining. After an intense few minutes to end the game, Milwaukee secured the 9-7 win, giving Utica City their first loss of the season.

Final Score: Milwaukee Wave 9, Utica City FC 7.
BOXSCORE | GAMESHEET | WATCH 

When asked about tonights performance, Coach Oliviero had this to say, “Utica came in with a lot of confidence, they played with a lot of confidence, and our guys have been doing really well, I felt like we were a little bit unlucky in Texas, and maybe a little unlucky against Monterrey, we deserved to lose against KC (Kansas City). This is a great result offensively, I thought we scored some great goals, defensively I think we can still get better, but when it mattered the guys really showed up and defended well.”

Standout performer Willie B had this to say, “It was a good team win, we need to get back on track, I had to get back on track, I didn’t think I had a good game against Texas, so it was kind of the good start we needed to put us on a run before playoffs.”

The Wave’s next home game is Sunday January 7th at 2:05 central versus the Harrisburg Heat! Join us for our princess and pirates game and come dressed for the occasion! 

Milwaukee Wave vs Harrisburg Heat - Sunday, January 7, 2:05pm at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. 

Tickets are on sale at MilwaukeeWave.com or at the Box Office one hour prior to game time.

MKE Wave vs Utica City FC Highlights - Thursday, January 4, 2023 - UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena