(SUN BOWL STADIUM, El Paso, TX) - With an opportunity to round out the weekend on top of the Central Division, the El Paso Patriots gave up a goal in the third minute of overtime to Milwaukee's John Ball, giving Wave United the win, 1-0, and splitting the two-match weekend series.
The Patriots' 20 points keeps them one point out of first, behind division-leading Minnesota, but the team drops back to .500 at 6-6-2 on the season. Milwaukee improves to 5-4-0 on the season, and Wave United's 15 points moves them into a tie with Cincinnati for third place in the division.
Both teams looked lackluster as the 6 p.m. MDT kickoff came with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-90's. But Milwaukee had more fire and determination than in their Friday night showing, a 2-1 loss to the Patriots.
The combinations that worked well for El Paso in the win two nights ago were shut down Sunday night. Conversely, so was a Milwaukee attack that dissipated in the face of a solid Patriots defense in close to goalkeeper Scott Alexander.
But Milwaukee looked the fresher of the two teams, dominating in two key statistics. Wave United outshot their hosts, 9-5 - including a 5-1 advantage over the last 48 minutes - and had all 10 corner kicks in the match.
Jeff Richey was solid in net for Wave United as well, as both goalkeepers went mostly unchallenged in a match of missed opportunities.
El Paso's Michael Griego perhaps had the chance of the evening for the Patriots. A shot from Laurenco Andrade in the 65th minute was misplayed by Richey as he dove onto the AstroPlay surface at the top of the six-yard box - bouncing right to the foot of Griego, who was merely continuing his run. Griego did get a foot on the ball but looked surprised, and the shot went just left of an empty net.
Even the goal came on a miscalculation. Ball took a feed from midfield coming into the El Paso 18-yard box in the 93rd minute, touched the ball twice to control and leveled his shot to the near post. Partially screened by his own defense, Alexander misread the shot, moving to his left for a ball that went to his right.
The ball trickled into the net and Ball immediately removed his shirt for a victory lap and midfield muscle-flex for the crowd of 512.
The Patriots have now claimed one win and four points in four matches at home, but maintain a five-point cushion going into their match next Saturday, June 28, against Seattle here in El Paso. Kickoff is set for 7:35 p.m. MDT.
Wave United returns home to Uihlein Park for their next match, Sunday, June 29, against Central Division rivals Indianapolis.
MILWAUKEE 1, EL PASO 0, OT
Scoring: M, John Ball (93).
MILWAUKEE: Jeff Richey, Troy Dusosky, Steve Lawrence, Joe Hammes, Chad Dombrowski, Matt Schmidt, John Ball, Dino Delevski, Jeremy Aldrich (87, Josh Timbers), Greg Howes (72, Nick Walls), Todd Dusosky.
EL PASO: Scott Alexander, Hamlet Diaz, Sidnei dos Santos (75, Victor Arreola), David de la Torre, Joel Rios, Ahmed Figueroa (81, Enrique Cervantes), Omar Mora (57, Junro Narita), Pablo Cabrera, Freddy Juárez (81, Jose Abarca), Laurenco Andrade, Mike Griego (72, Tim Pierce).
Shots: M 4-4-1-9, EP 4-1-0-5. Saves: M 2-0-0-2, EP 1-1-0-2. Fouls: M 10-9-0-19, EP 7-11-1-19. Offsides: M 1-2-0-3, EP 2-3-0-5. Corner Kicks: M 3-6-1-10, EP 0-0-0-0. Cautions: M 2 (Delevski 21, Ball 79), EP 3 (Andrade 2, Figueroa 45, Abarca 92). Attendance: 512. Officials: Brent Hall, Gary Owen, Harold Zavalney, Andrew Gage.
