For the Reporter
Raphael Cox recorded two goals for Tacoma, but the Milwaukee Wave dominated possession and eventually wore down the Stars to take an 8-4 MASL victory at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday night.
The Wave remain unbeaten at 7-0 this season. The Stars fell to 2-5 with four of their five losses to teams with a combined record of 13-0.
Philip Lund scored his seventh goal of the season and the Stars led 4-3 midway through the third quarter before the Wave flipped the switch and scored five straight goals.
Cox got the Stars on the board early, striking one past Milwaukee goalkeeper Josh Lemos, with just 56 seconds gone. Milwaukee brought the pressure throughout the first 15 minutes, but goalkeeper Danny Waltman made 10 saves to keep Stars up 1-0 after the first quarter.
But on the first shot of the second quarter, Hans Denissen tied the game up when he bellied a pass from Max Ferdinand into the goal. Philip Lund scored his second goal of the weekend and his seventh goal of the season a few minutes later to take a 2-1 lead, but it was Ferdiand with a little touch on a pass across the box from Robert Renaud to tie it up 2-2 less than a minute later.
After blue cards to the Wave’s Tenzin Rampa and one to Tacoma’s Joseph Cairel, with each team down a man, Troy Peterson slipped into the corner and received a pass from Ramone Palmer to score his first goal of the season with just six tenths of a second left in the half. Tacoma took a 3-2 lead into the locker room.
Daniel Mattos tied the game early in the third quarter for the Wave, but Raphael Cox scored again on a power play, an absolute blast that put the Stars up 4-3 at the 6:31 mark. Minutes later, Milwaukee answered again with Mattos’ second goal of the quarter to tie it up 4-4, and Andre Hayne gave them their first lead of the game, 5-4, with 2:05 left in the period.
It was all Milwaukee after that with goals from Renaud, Marcio Leite and Ian Bennett’s empty netter in the fourth.
Waltman made 21 saves including 10 in the first quarter.
The Stars return home for a pair of games against Soles De Sonora on Saturday, Dec. 16 and Sunday, Dec. 17. Saturday’s game is Star Wars Night and fans can pick up an exclusive, limited edition Stars Grit City Jedi T-shirt by purchasing an End Zone Party Deck ticket for $42. The Party Deck includes a buffet with beer, soda and water.
First kick is 7:05 p.m. Saturday and 5:05 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may be purchased at tacomastars.com.
Stay up to date with the Stars by following them on Twitter (@TacomaStarsSC) or liking the team on Facebook (FB.com/TacomaStars).
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