Sagu saves Blast from Wave

MILWAUKEE - Blast goalkeeper Sagu stared down the leading scorer in the Major Indoor Soccer League and made a huge save, foiling a critical shootout attempt and leading the Blast to a 14-13 Major Indoor Soccer League semifinal victory over the Milwaukee Wave yesterday.

Sagu's stop on Wave forward Greg Howes propelled the Blast to a sweep of the two-game series, its fourth straight victory in the postseason and a berth in the MISL championship game.

The Blast will play Monterrey La Raza in the MISL final at 7 p.m. Saturday on this same U.S. Cellular Arena field.

The Blast continued its playoff mastery of the Wave, beating its rival for the fourth consecutive time in the postseason (twice in the finals and twice in the semifinals).

"We knew coming in here this was going to be an intense battle," Blast coach Danny Kelly said. "Milwaukee is a great team. We knew they were going to throw everything they could at us. Our game plan was to weather the storm, play good solid team defense and finish our opportunities."

Forward Machel Millwood, who was shut out in the series opener Wednesday, responded with two goals and an assist to lead the Blast, which had six different goal scorers. Millwood scored a key goal late in the third quarter to give the Blast a 12-9 lead, sending a floating left-footed shot over the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Nick Vorberg.

The Blast extended its margin to five points on a superb goal by Matt Watson at 4:48 of the fourth quarter, but the Blast had to survive sustained pressure by the Wave in the final eight minutes.

Wave forward Anthony Maher scored off a restart, and 45-year-old Michael King scored in the final game of his indoor career to cut the Blast's lead to 14-13. When King drew a holding penalty on Blast defender Billy Nelson, the Wave had a great chance to take the lead and perhaps go on to a golden-goal tiebreaker.

Instead, Sagu decisively came off his line, stopped Howes before he could get around the goalkeeper and smothered his attempt.

"Greg is more of a shooter than a dribbler," Wave coach Keith Tozer said. "I thought Sagu played it well, because if you sit back on a shooter, you give him more of the goal."

Sagu finished with 21 saves and fended off a Wave power play, followed by Milwaukee's sixth-attacker unit in the final two minutes. Wave defender Joe Hammes pounded a three-point shot off the far post with 46 seconds left, but that was Milwaukee's last good chance.

"Sometimes a keeper needs luck, too," Sagu said.

The Wave used goals by Giuliano Oliviero and Marcelo Fontana to take a 5-2 lead in the second quarter, with Fontana racing downfield after a blocked Blast corner kick and converting a blistering three-point goal.

But the Blast was able to close the gap to 5-4 at halftime, thanks to a goal by Adauto Neto at 13:05 of the second period.

The Blast scored eight points in the third quarter, scoring three consecutive goals to open the period. Millwood scored moments after a Blast power play expired at 4:25 of the period, and Lucio Gonzaga and Giuliano Celenza took advantage of defensive mistakes to help the Blast grab a 10-5 advantage.

Midfielder Denison Cabral, who had 11 points in the opening game of the series, was limited to one shot and held scoreless yesterday.

Now, the Blast will brace for La Raza.

"This is why we play the game, for that opportunity to win a championship," Kelly said. "We don't have any million-dollar salaries in there or anything like that. It's about the competition and being able to call yourself a champion. Now, just one more."

Blast 2 2 8 2 - 14

Milwaukee 0 5 4 4 - 13

First quarter: 1. Blast, Pierce (Millwood), restart goal, 1:21.
Second quarter: 2. Milwaukee, Oliviero (Santos), :19. 3. Milwaukee, Fontana, 3-point goal, 4:06. 4. Blast, Neto, 13:05. Penalties: Gonzaga, Blast (boarding), 13:20.
Third quarter: 5. Blast, Millwood, 4:25. 6. Blast, Gonzaga, 5:59. 7. Blast, Celenza, 6:47. 8. Milwaukee, Hammes (Howes), restart goal, 8:07. 9. Milwaukee, Howes (Fontana), 10:20. 10. Blast, Millwood (Garcia), 14:17. Penalties: Ukah, Milwaukee (tripping), 2:21; Neto, Blast (holding), 8:13.
Fourth quarter: 11. Blast, Watson (Nelson), 4:48. 12. Milwaukee, Maher (Howes), restart goal, 8:09. 13. Milwaukee, King (Hammes), 10:42. Penalties: Nelson, Blast (holding), 11:24.
Shots: Blast 33, Milwaukee 43. Saves: Blast 21 (Sagu 21), Milwaukee 15 (Vorberg 15, Howes 0). Blocks: Blast 16 (Wakefield 5), Milwaukee 11 (Ackah 3). Fouls: Blast 14, Milwaukee 9. Shootout chances: Milwaukee 0 of 1. Power-play chances: Blast 0 of 1, Milwaukee 0 of 3. A: 3,465.

• HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

• ADMINISTRATIVE

• FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEER

• COMPUTER/ HELP DESK

• DRIVER

• View all Top Jobs