Wisconsin Soccer Central

Ian Bennett, Marcio Leite and Tony Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW-Green Bay) were key players in the Milwaukee Wave's attack last season, and the trio were back at it Saturday night during the indoor team's 32nd home opener.

Bennett had a hat trick, Leite added two goals and two assists and Walls also scored twice as the Wave roared past the Detroit Waza Flo 10-3 in a Major Arena Soccer League match watched by 3,228 fans at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Both of Walls' goals came in the first quarter. His second at the 10:32 mark, just 28 seconds after Detroit (2-1) had taken its second lead of the night, was the first of five consecutive goals as the home side seized control.

Bennett's first two goals both were big for Milwaukee's momentum. The first was a shorthander off a feed from Leite with Tenzin Rampa (Madison West/UW-Milwaukee) in the penalty box, and the second came off a long ball from goalkeeper-assistant coach Nick Vorberg and made it 5-2 just 7 seconds after Rampa's penalty expired.

The decisive run also included the first Wave goal for Max Ferdinand, who joined Milwaukee in the offseason after six seasons with the rival Baltimore Blast, and the first professional goal for rookie Tony Patterson (Menomonee Falls/UW-Green Bay).

Rampa also scored for the Wave (1-1), while Bato Radoncic – back with the team after a trip to Costa Rica with the U.S. futsal national team for the International Futsal Challenge tournament last week – had three assists and Pablo Da Silva set up two goals.

Vorberg finished with 17 saves and Matt Eisold (Burlington/Wisconsin Lutheran) stopped one shot over the final 3-plus minutes in his season debut for Milwaukee, which plays host to the expansion Cedar Rapids Rampage (0-2) at 6:05 p.m. Saturday at UWM Panther Arena.