Wave’s Bennett, Leite eager to chase another title
BROOKFIELD – While the Milwaukee Wave sat idle last season, the two most recognizable faces of the franchise did not.
Ian Bennett starts the 2021-22 Major Arena Soccer League as its reigning MVP, an award the ageless striker won while on loan to the Florida Tropics and one he's comfortable saying he should have won years ago with the Wave.
Veteran defender Marcio Leite is a back-to-back champion, having celebrated with the San Diego Sockers in April as he had with the Wave in May 2019, before the COVID-19 shutdown of early 2020.
Saturday they'll be back together playing a game in the Wave's black and yellow for the first time in 20 months.
“I would say it was just a great experience for me just to see because since 2006 the Wave has been the only team I've played on,” Leite said after practice Wednesday. “I had to leave last year just because the Wave wasn't around. So it was good. I got to see other things and I got to play with other players. And obviously I was very happy to win another championship.
“But I'm back in Milwaukee, Milwaukee is my home and I love playing here.”
The Wave season opens on the road Saturday against the Baltimore Blast, another of indoor soccer's storied franchises that also went on hiatus due to local health restrictions. The home opener follows a week later at 4:05 p.m. Dec. 18 against the Blast at the UWMilwaukee Panther Arena.
This team will look considerably different from the last time the Wave played, with familiar veterans such as Max Ferdinand and Chad Vandergriffe gone, and with defender Tyler Turner, who played on the United States U17, U18, U20 and U23 teams, and Gordy Gurson, a goal-scorer who played with Leite in San Diego, among the newcomers.
Two faces that never seem to change in the Milwaukee soccer scene are Bennett and Leite. But – especially after last season – the question is how many more Wave openers either has in him.
“I'm going to let the game decide,” said Bennett, 38. “I feel good, my body feels good. … I think (former Wave player and assistant coach Marcelo Fontana) played until he was like 44, and (head coach Giuliano Oliviero) played until he was 43.
“I'm going to go until I can't produce anymore and can't help the team. But I just love it. I love being around the guys, and when I retire I'm definitely going to miss it.”
The 37-year-old Leite has a similar approach. “Last year I won a championship and was a big part of a team that won a championship, so that told me OK, I can still do this,” said Leite, who also serves as an assistant coach. “My goal is to win another championship. If I win it this year and I have a fifth ring, then maybe I'm going to retire.
“But I think because I really take good care of my body – I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't go out; I really try to be the best pro I can be – to play maybe two more years, I think that would be reasonable.”