Wisconsin Soccer Central

The Milwaukee Wave took the lead in the first minute and were in front most of the way, but lost to the Chicago Mustangs 4-3 in a Major Arena Soccer League season opener Saturday night in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Tony Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW-Green Bay) – who won the USL championship with the Rochester Rhinos outdoors just two weeks ago – put the Wave ahead just 59 seconds into the game and Ian Bennett doubled the lead 24 seconds into the second quarter. But Milwaukee wouldn't score again until the final minute of the match.

The Mustangs, meanwhile, pulled one goal back before halftime through Ricardo Carvalho and got two goals from Alexis Camarena in a 64-second span early in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Joshio Sandoval, who spent time with the Madison 56ers in the National Premier Soccer League in 2012, scored with 3:32 remaining to make it 4-2 – that proved to be an important insurance goal for the home side.

With goalkeeper-assistant coach Nick Vorberg pulled and Walls playing as an extra attacker, former Baltimore Blast midfielder Max Ferdinand scored his first goal for the Wave with 7 seconds left, but Milwaukee didn't have time to find an equalizer. Vorberg finished with 18 saves, the same total as his counterpart, Jesus Flores.

Tony Patterson (Menomonee Falls/UW-Green Bay) and Stuart Grable (Neenah/UW-Green Bay) joined Ferdinand in making their debuts with the Wave, as did Sean Totsch and Drew Ruggles, who were Walls' teammates with the Rhinos.

Milwaukee is off next weekend before its home opener Nov. 14 against the Detroit Waza Flo at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m.