Milwaukee Wave

Milwaukee Wave

Founded	1984
Stadium	UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
Capacity	9,500
Owner	Mike Zimmerman
Head Coach	Giuliano Oliviero[1]
League	Major Arena Soccer League
2019–20	2nd, Eastern Conference
Website	Club website
Home colors Away colors
Current season

The Milwaukee Wave is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional soccer team in the United States^[2] and are the current champions of the Major Arena Soccer League.^[3]

The team plays their games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena. The team colors are black and yellow.^[4]

History[]

The team was founded on August 3, 1984, as a member of the American Indoor Soccer Association and played in every season and incarnation of that league (see MISL). They have also played in the Xtreme Soccer League and the third version of the MISL. The team is currently a member of the Major Arena Soccer League. Milwaukee also hosted the 2003 and 2006 MISL II All-Star Games.^[5]

Keith Tozer was the team's coach for 21 years before leaving to become United States national futsal team head coach. While with the Wave, he was the all-time winningest coach in North American indoor soccer, with six league championships and more than 700 wins.^[6]

The Wave played in the first season of the Xtreme Soccer League in the 2008 – 2009 season, but moved to the new Major Indoor Soccer League for the 2009–2010 season.^[7]

After the 2013–2014 season, the team announced that it was leaving the MISL along with five other teams and join the MASL.^[8]

In 2014 the ownership group ROC Ventures, headed by Mike Zimmerman, became a partner in the team's ownership.^[9]

Just before the 2014–15 season began, the Wave replaced their traditional green artificial turf with a black turf to match the team's colors and marketing strategy. Reception by fans and the press was mixed but generally positive.^[10]

Players[]

As of 20 January 2020^[11]

Active roster[]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 FW  USA Chad Vandegriffe 4 MF  HON Carlos Contreras 5 MF  USA 6 DF  BRA 7 FW  NED Hans Denissen 8 MF  BRA 10 MF  USA 11 DF  USA 12 DF  USA 14 MF  ENG 16 MF  USA 18 MF  MEX 22 DF  USA

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 DF  CAN 24 FW  USA Max Ferdinand 25 MF  USA 26 MF  CAN Ian Bennett 28 MF  MEX 31 GK  KOR 45 DF  USA 55 GK  USA 77 MF  BRA Marcio Leite 82 GK  BRA 91 DF  USA 99 FW  BRA

Inactive roster[]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CAN 9 FW  CAN

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 GK  CAN Josh Lemos 93  BRA

2019-20 Transfers[]

Transfers in[]

Entry date	Position	No.	Player	From club	Ref.
25 Dec 2019	DF	9			[12]
25 Dec 2019	DF	13			[13]
24 Jan 2020	GK	71			[14]
11 Feb 2020	GK	55		Baltimore Blast	[15]

Transfers out[]

Exit date	Position	No.	Player	To club	Ref.
21 May 2019	DF	16	Drew Ruggles	Florida Tropics	[16]
23 May 2019	MF	10		Florida Tropics	[17]

2019-2020 matches[]

* 2019-20 Season Terminated Due To COVID-19 Outbreak *

Wave Hall of Fame inductees[]

Name	Inducted	Years played
Peter Knezic	2009	1984–1990
Art Kramer	2009	1987–1991
Steve Morris	2009	1992–2002
Victor Nogueira	2009	1992–2003
Todd Dusosky	2009	1996–2007
Michael King	2009	1993–2008
Tony Pierce	2010	1985–1991, 1992–1993
Pat White	2011	1995–2005
Lee Rogers	2011	1986–1992
Greg Howes	2011	2000–2008, 2011–2012
George Pastor	2012	1986–1991
Michael Richardson	2012	1994–1995, 1996–2000
Jimmy Banks	2013	1987–1993
Ricky Mobley	2013	1993–2000

Retired numbers[]

• 5 – Peter Knezic
• 11 – Steve Morris
• 27 – Victor Nogueira
• 13 –
• 17 – Todd Dusosky
• 19 – Troy Dusosky

Other notable former players[]

• Brian Loftin
• Jimmy Banks

Year-by-year[]

Year	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attend.
1984–85	AISA	6th AISA, 13–27	Did not qualify	2,114
1985–86	AISA	6th AISA, 11–29	Did not qualify	1,802
1986–87	AISA	4th North, 12–30	Did not qualify	2,316
1987–88	AISA	3rd AISA, 11–13	3rd place, 6–6	3,066
1988–89	AISA	2nd AISA, 24–16	Lost Semifinal	6,442
1989–90	AISA	2nd National, 21–19	Lost Semifinal	7,147
1990–91	NPSL II	2nd National, 23–17	Lost First Round	6,526
1991–92	NPSL II	4th National, 18–22	Did not qualify	7,629
1992–93	NPSL II	5th National, 17–23	Did not qualify	7,759
1993–94	NPSL II	4th National, 20–20	Lost First Round	7,326
1994–95	NPSL II	3rd National, 23–17	Lost First Round	7,108
1995–96	NPSL II	2nd National, 30–10	Lost Division Semifinal	7,363
1996–97	NPSL II	2nd Midwest, 26–14	Lost Conference Quarterfinal	7,975
1997–98	NPSL II	1st Central, 28–12	Won Championship	7,903
1998–99	NPSL II	2nd Central, 25–15	Lost Conference Semifinal	8,453
1999–2000	NPSL II	1st North, 31–13	Won Championship	8,002
2000–01	NPSL II	1st National, 24–16	Won Championship	8,310
2001–02	MISL II	1st MISL, 34–10	Lost Championship	6,665
2002–03	MISL II	1st Western, 28–8	Lost Championship	7,096
2003–04	MISL II	1st Central, 27–9	Lost Championship	6,012
2004–05	MISL II	1st MISL, 24–15	Won Championship	3,675
2005–06	MISL II	3rd MISL, 17–13	Lost Semifinal	4,352
2006–07	MISL II	4th MISL, 16–14	Lost Semifinal	4,618
2007–08	MISL II	2nd MISL, 22–8	Lost Semifinal	4,367
2008–09	XSL	3rd XSL, 10–10	No Playoffs	4,247
2009–10	MISL III	1st MISL, 14–6	Lost Championship	3,934
2010–11	MISL III	2nd MISL, 15–5	Won Championship	4,531
2011–12	MISL III	1st Central, 18–6	Won Championship	3,955
2012–13	MISL III	2nd MISL, 21–5	Lost Semifinals	5,068
2013–14	MISL III	2nd MISL, 16–4	Lost Semifinals	4,906
2014–15	MASL	2nd Central, 13–7	Lost Division Finals	2,961
2015–16	MASL	3rd Central, 13–7	Lost Division Finals	3,104[1]
2016–17	MASL	2nd Central, 13–7	Lost Conference Final	3,793
2017–18	MASL	1st Central, 17–5	Lost Conference Final	4,101
2018–19	MASL	1st South Central, 21-3	Won Championship	4,023
2019–20*	MASL	2nd Eastern, 14-6	No Playoffs	3,847
Total		710–461 Win % = .606		4,110

• Regular season ended early due to COVID-19 outbreak

Head coaches[]

Years	Name
1984–1985, 1985–1986
1985–1987	Mike Custer
1987–1990	John Dolinsky
1990–1992
1992–2014	Keith Tozer*
2014–present	Giuliano Oliviero

• Keith Tozer missed parts of the 1997–98 & 1999–00 season coaching the US Futsal team. Both times, filled in.

Owners[]

• (1984)
• (1985–87)
• (1987–2002)
• (2002–09)
• (2009–2013)
• (2013–2014)
• (2014–present)

Arenas[]

• MECCA Auditorium 1984–1988
• Bradley Center 1988–2003
• UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena 2003–present

See also[]

• Milwaukee Wave United (former sister outdoor A-League squad in the early 2000s)

References[]

External links[]

• Official website