Wave dominated regular season

This is title time for Cleveland and Milwaukee. Only hours separate the Force and Wave from the kick-off of their 2005 MISL Championship Series Finals.

While the rest of the country can tune in to ESPN2 on Saturday night at 9 p.m. (EST) to catch all of the live end-to-end action, we caught a glimpse into the two camps as they made final preparations for the 2-game set, which will open on Saturday (May 14), at U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee.

Wednesday was a weight-training day for the 2004-05 MISL Regular Season Champion Milwaukee Wave. Practices were held on Thursday and Friday, and a kick-around is set for Saturday morning.

The weather wasn't delightful along the Western shores of Lake Michigan on Wednesday. In fact MISL MVP forward Greg Howes described it as "cold and rainy." But Howes had his day on Thursday when he received his second consecutive MISL MVP award at a press conference at "The Cell." After a media and photo session with MISL Commissioner Steve Ryan, and indoor soccer's all-time scoring leader and Cleveland soccer legend Hector Marinaro, Howes and the Wave continued preparations indoors the rest of the week, poised to bring home a fourth professional indoor soccer championship to their loyal supporters in Milwaukee.

In Cleveland, where the team flew out on Thursday, Wednesday was a pleasant day reaching the low 80s along the southern shores of Lake Erie. Head coach Omid Namazi conducted a morning practice at the team's training facility, and actually wrapped up a little early, as the team prepped for what players from both teams promise will be nothing short of - "a battle."

Here we'll look at the Championship Series Finals match-up, and check in with players from both teams as we approach the opening of the action on Saturday at U.S. Cellular Arena and on ESPN2.

Wave Gets The First Word

We'd be remiss not to start with Milwaukee. The Wave continued their dominance of the field this season, finishing with the best record in the League for sixth consecutive season. With their 24-15 record they edged the Force (23-16) for the no. 1 seed in the postseason by one game in the standings with a reloaded roster that quickly rounded into form. The team features a returning core group and a host of complementary players that deliver with precision for head coach Keith Tozer and his much-admired, and long-tested "system" of play.

"This is my eighth Final's appearance in ten years, and for us to be back in the Championship again is a reflection of our hard work this season," Milwaukee target Todd Dusosky said. "The fact that we have been in the Finals the last six straight years says a lot about our organization."

Dusosky is one of the mainstays within the Wave's framework. Along with players like Michael King, Lovelace Ackah, and Pat White, Dusosky has been around for much of the Wave's decade of success. Howes, reserve goalkeeper Dan Green, and Todd's brother, and currently injured star defender Troy Dusosky, have been around nearly as long. And Tozer and the rest of the front office have strategically added a number of other key pieces during this extended run.

There's stability on the field in Milwaukee. And Todd Dusosky's March 13 return from a January injury seems to have solidified this year's attack. Howes and Dusosky, who usually play on different lines, were paired together and equally evident on the carpet and in the stat sheets. Dusosky recorded five points (one goal, four assists) in his first game back, and finished the regular season with five multi-point games in his post-injury nine-game stint. For the year, Dusosky totaled 11 goals and 22 assists in just 19 games played (of a possible 39).

As for Howes, he followed up his 85-pont season in 2003-04, by posting 73 points this season while repeating as the MVP. Howes led the league in points (73), goals (41), and assists (32). The 28-year-old didn't start out especially strong, but he got things rolling with a 13-goal, seven-assist month in February, and continued to punish opposing goalkeepers the rest of the way.

Howes played in 36 of 39 games. In the 22 games in which Howes played and the Wave won, he totaled 60 points. In the 14 he played that the Wave lost, Howes totaled 13.

Moving beyond that formidable one-two punch, midfielders Marcelo Fontana and Angel Rivillo each scored 18 goals. Veteran forwards King, and Giuliano Oliviero each chipped in 17 goals. Midfielder Johnny Torres (13), Troy Dusosky (13), Matt Schmidt (12) and All-MISL defender Chris Morman (11) all reached double-digits in goals scored. Morman also led the team in blocks with 52.

"There's always the opportunity for an unsung hero to step in and come up with some big goals," Todd Dusosky said. "Now is the perfect opportunity for anyone to step up and have a big game. We've had guys do it all year long, it hasn't just been Greg and I. Guys like Giuliano, Matt Schmidt, all of our midfielders and defenders, have been doing it all year."

Against Cleveland however, Milwaukee's had some struggles. At 2-3, the Force is the only team the Wave had a losing record against during the regular season. Two of those losses have come at home. Matches have been close with three games going into overtime, and outcomes often decided by one team's successes and the other's failures on special teams. In other words, as Tozer has said, expect the restarts and power plays to be a key to this duel.

Proven defenders like Morman, Ackah, White, and Sinisa Alebic will be tested.

"We are preparing the same way we have all year, we can't sweat all the details that surround this game," Fontana said. "We have to play the game the way we know our team is capable of playing. Cleveland is a great team, but if we play together and compliment one another, I think we have a good opportunity to break down their defense."

"(Cleveland) Goalkeeper Jim Larkin has had some great games against us and the addition of Genoni Martinez to their already impressive defensive line has been a big part of their success. Now it's our job to come in and find ways to score."

Cleveland's camp

Where Larkin, hasn't had the same kind of season statistically that Milwaukee's All-MISL goalkeeper Nick Vorberg (22-10, 3.96 goals against average) has had, the Force 'keeper believes he's playing the best he has during his indoor career. A fourth-year player for the Force, Larkin has the longest tenure on the team excluding All-MISL forward John Ball, himself a veteran of 10 seasons in Cleveland.

But where Larkin has seen a revolving door of players and coaches in past seasons, he now sees a team that is playing together, playing for each other, playing for each other, and is finally reaping the benefits of the numerous roster moves. High-scoring defender Genoni Martinez, a two-time MISL Defender of the Year, was acquired in mid-season, as were defensive anchors Matt Johnson and Neil Gilbert. Josh Timbers is a holdover, and Ryan Hall and Rene Rivas, this team's leader in blocks (55), have been in the fold from the start of the season.

Cleveland won 15 of its last 19 games, and stretched that to 17 of 21 with a Semifinal sweep of the Philadelphia KiXX on April 29 and May 1.

"The turnover makes it difficult, but we have a more cohesive unit now," said Larkin. "We have a stable bunch in the back now and we have a combination of athleticism and experience. We're on the same page and you can see the consistency."

Larkin went 20-14 in the regular season, had a 5.09 goals against average, and a .744 save percentage, but said he benefited most from what was happening in front of him; not only with his defenders, but with the assembled group of muti-talented offensive players up top.

"Instead of trying to keep our team from going down more than two or three goals like I had in the past, we were scoring and I was trying to hold on to our lead," Larkin said.

The Force led the MISL in offense, scoring six goals per game. Milwaukee was second at 5.6. But what the statistics show, and Cleveland players and coaches point out, while there wasn't the dreaded one-two punch of Howes and Dusosky, as teams fear with when facing the Wave, there were nearly a dozen players that consistently showed up with multipoint games on the scoring sheets. Eleven players reached double-digit goal totals, with some playing less than half a season with the team.

John Ball, Cleveland's captain and a All-MISL forward this season who finished second to Howes in points (61), remembers the one-two punch days in Cleveland. He was a part of Cleveland's string of three championship teams in the 1990s that revolved around the goal scoring of Marinaro, and the sport's all-time assists leader - Zoran Karic. Both players retired following the 2003-04 MISL season.

"This week of practice was so much different compared to back then, more businesslike," Ball said Wednesday. "Back in the '90s, we knew we were going to win. We knew we were going to win before we stepped on the field.

"This team has so many weapons, so many more players that score. We know that. And we've been disciplined and getting ready for the challenge ahead."

The list of at least 11 consistent weapons starts with Ball and Martinez (34 points in 20 games), and continues with Brazilian striker Adauto Neto (31 points in 25 games), veteran target Chris Handsor (27 goals, 13 assists, 32 games), Antonio Sutton (21 goals), Chris Dore (16 goals, 32 games), midfielders Gary DePalma and Robbie Aristodemo and Allen Eller are proven scorers. Rivas (11 goals, 11 assists) complements Martinez as a top weapon out of the back.

Forward Aaron Susi, picked up off waivers this spring, has 27 points in 17 games with Cleveland. Susi's been named by several coaches as the season's biggest surprise.

In Cleveland's 10-6 postseason win over Philadelphia on May 1, four players scored two goals a piece. None were named Ball or Martinez.

Namazi, the MISL's Coach of the Year, first praised Milwaukee's system, its "discipline" and its unmatched ability to be in every game. If the Force has an edge, he said, it's with its "offensive creativity."

"We have a lot of guys that can go one-on-one," Namazi said. "Neto, John Ball, Susi, Martinez, Sutton & we don't rely on one or two guys."

The Showdown Starts

Both sides predict a closely played series, like the last time the teams met for the league championship following the 1999-2000 season. Milwaukee won that showdown, 3-2, in what was then a five-game series. This time it will be a two-game set. If the team's split, they'll play an overtime "golden goal" period to determine the winner following "game two" at St. Louis' Savvis Center on May 21, which will be shown live on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. (EST).

It all gets started this Saturday (May 14), at 9 p.m. (EST) live from Milwaukee's U.S. Cellular Arena on ESPN2.

"I'm just treating Saturday's game like any other game," Wave defender Pat White said. "We played them five times in the regular season and we prepare for this game the same way we did each of those games. We have a new group of guys this year, so there are different strengths and weaknesses to this team than in the past. We've got to polish those up and get ready for the two-game series against Cleveland."