Milwaukee and Minnesota slugged it out at Macalaster College in a hot humid night in front of over 4000. In many ways, it resembled years gone by when the Thunder and Rampage battled it out, with five yellow cards, a myriad of verbal warnings, and a couple times where it looked like the teams might come to blows.
Milwaukee came out strong in the first half, taking advantage of defensive giveaways and miscues by the Thunder, and opened early in the 3rd minute with Matt Schmidt taking a cross to the top of the six-yard box, only to have his shot deflected wide. In the 7th, they almost had a break away after a defensive mistake at midfield, but some speedy running by the defense caught up and broke up a possible one-on-one situation. Dino Delevski had a one-timer from 18 yards out go on target, but was saved by Minnesota keeper Joe Warren. Steve Shak had Minnesota’s first real chance in the 23rd minute with his own one time shot inside the penalty area that went wide, following up from a Jim Larkin punch save. Johnny Torres surprised Larkin, and the rest of the Wave United with a long (about 30 yards) shot; Larkin reacted late, but was able to get a finger on the ball and push it wide. Milwaukee ended the scoring changes in the 32nd minute, again working off a defensive give-away, inside the penalty area until the ball was cleared.
The second half opened far more evenly than the Wave United dominated first half; Jason Willan caught Larkin by surprise again, although not enough for him to let through another long-distance shot. Menyonger fought his way to the left side of the goal area, with Larkin making a reaction-save with his feet. Johnnie Menyonger continued to take control of the offense, and finally in the 67th minute, with defenders swarming around him 30 yards from goal, in the middle of the field, snuck a ball out to a steaking Johnnie Torres who punched in a goal in a one-on-one against Jim Larkin, into the right side of the net. From that point, Minnesota’s confidence soared, and the mistakes and misqueues of the first half never appeared again, despite the increasing pressure of Milwaukee as the minutes waned. Minnesota tried to capitalize on the number of players going forward with some fast breaks into the corner, then by dumping the ball center after the goalkeeper committed, first Jason Willan in the 79th minute, then by Torres in the 81st. Otherwise, Minnesota bunkered in, and let their speedy forwards attempt to create space; Milwaukee’s best chance came in a loose ball in the 88th minute, but Joe Warren was able to scoop up the ball before anyone from Milwaukee could get through the crowd.
Venue: Macalester College
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Attendance: 4,367
Weather: 90 degrees, sunny, hot
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Thunder 0 1 1
Wave United 0 0 0
Scoring:
Thunder – Johnny Torres (Johnny Menyongar), 67.
Lineups:
THUNDER –- 23-Joe Warren, 4-Adam Eyre, 12-Steve Shak, 21-Don Gramenz, 13-Mark Schulte, 14-Kevin Anderson, 16-Jason Willan, 17-Hugo Llamas (8-Greg Wheaton, 61), 9-Johnny Torres (7-Amos Magee, 89), 27-Nate Jaqua (19-Marshall Morehead, 77), 10-Johnny Menyongar.
Subs not used: 22-Brad Swenby, 24-Alvin Hudson, 3-Dustin Brannan, 11-Evan Richardson.
WAVE UNITED – 1-Jim Larkin, 23-Chad Dombrowski, 7-Steve Lawrence, 19-Troy Dusosky, 22-Joe Hammes, 14-Josh Timbers (4-Matt Miller), 8-Matt Schmidt (2-Steve Bernal), 13-John Ball, 21-Dino Delevski, 9-Greg Howes (12-Digital Takiwira, 76), 17-Todd Dusosky (5-Nick Walls, 83).
Subs not used: 20-Jeff Richey, 3-Dennis Fadeski, 11-Anthony Maher.
Stats Summary: Thunder Milwaukee
Shots 15 4
Saves 2 5
Corner Kicks 6 5
Fouls 17 12
Offside 4 2
Misconduct Summary:
Wave United – Dino Delevski (caution – reckless challenge), 10.
Thunder – Mark Schulte (caution – reckless challenge), 47.
Wave United – Matt Schmidt (caution – reckless challenge), 73.
Thunder – Johnny Menyongar (caution - dissent), 74.
Wave United – Troy Dusosky (caution – reckless challenge), 83.
Officials:
Referee: Abbey Okujala
Senior Assistant Referee: Jeremy Schroeder
Junior Assistant Referee: Troy Cohrs
Fourth Official: Kristine Lamm
