MILWAUKEE – It didn’t take long for Sam Sloma to warm to his new environment.
Just five days after making the long trip here from his native England, Sloma scored in the seventh minute to help the Milwaukee Wave United open their preseason with a 3-0 victory over Northwestern Wednesday night at blustery Uihlein Soccer Park.
Former A-League MVP and two-time Major League Soccer All-Star Digital Takawira scored the other two goals in the second half for Wave United, who have just six players under contract in training camp.
Fifteen players under contract to play for the team this summer are with the organization’s indoor team, the Wave, who start play in the Major Indoor Soccer League championship series this weekend against the Baltimore Blast.
Meanwhile, Wave United – who will be the final A-League team to play their season opener when they play host to Edmonton May 14 – are on the other end of the schedule spectrum. They had just two days of training together before their preseason opener.
That said, Milwaukee coach Art Kramer gave his team three goals for the match: 1) Preserve the clean sheet; 2) Score two goals or more; and 3) Give up no goals on set pieces and score once on a set piece. Wave United accomplished all three tasks.
“For us to be able to come out and execute, I was pretty pleased with that,” said Kramer, who used 21 of the 25 players on his preseason roster on a night that saw temperatures in the 40s with gusty winds making it feel even colder.
“I’d trade these three goals tonight for three on May 14th in a heartbeat, I’ll tell you that.”
All six players under contract who are in camp were in the starting 11 for Kramer, but it was one of the newcomers who got Wave United on the board first.
Veteran defender Dennis Fadeski played the ball up the left side to Sloma, who turned and volleyed a shot up and over Wildcats goalkeeper Brian Heckenbach to the far upper corner in the seventh minute to put Milwaukee ahead 1-0.
“(Fadeski is) a good player, made some good passes, so I was just trying to make some good runs where he could find me,” said the 21-year-old Sloma, a lifelong Londoner who played several years in the Wimbledon program.
Sloma also played with semi-pro side Aylesbury United and other English teams, but decided to take a shot at playing in the United States. He got to Milwaukee last Friday.
“It’s something different, a change in lifestyle,” said Sloma, who tried out for the Wave indoor team last fall, but didn’t make the cut – he said he has little indoor experience.
“It’s a very big change. It’s not really like London, but it’s nice. It’s a nice town. I haven’t seen everything yet. … England and America are fairly similar; it’s not like going to like Brazil, where they speak a different language.
“But football is football, wherever you play, whoever who play with. … I’ve just got to play well and see what happens.”
As for Takawira’s goals, Kramer had seen such efforts before.
His first goal came off a free kick from just outside the box on the left side. Midfielder Branko Savic stepped over the ball and left it for Takawira, who sent a shot into traffic. Heckenbach could have made the save, but broke toward his left only to see the ball roll over the line on his right side, making it 2-0 in the 57th minute.
Takawira’s second goal was much more aesthetic.
Dribbling up the middle on the counter attack with several passing options available, he kept the ball, stopped it, and with three Northwestern defenders surrounding him – and falling to the ground – sent a high, arcing shot that beat Heckenbach to the upper right corner in the 64th minute.
“That (first goal) didn’t bend the side netting, that’s for sure, but the second one was a great goal,” Kramer said of Takawira, who had six goals and four assists for 16 points for Wave United last season.
“I’ve seen him do it many times. When Digi scores, it’s not going to be with a lot of power, but you can bet it’s going to be with a lot of finesse and it’s going to be beautiful goal.”
Jeff Richey, Wave United’s backup keeper last season, made five saves unofficially for the shutout. His toughest saves came in a 3-minute span late in the first half, when he denied Kevin Earnest and Jaro Pylypczak on drives from the right flank.
“I felt like we controlled the game,” said Kramer, whose team started in a 4-4-2 formation that later morphed into a 4-5-1, a 3-5-2 and a 3-6-1.
Don’t forget about them: The 15 players who are expected to play for the Wave United but are still finishing up the indoor season with the Wave are:
Goalkeeper Nick Vorberg; defenders Troy Dusosky, Chris Morman, Joe Hammes and Lovelace Ackah; midfielders Greg Howes, Matt Schmidt, Giuliano Oliviero, Semir Mesanovic, Marcelo Fontana, Angel Rivillo and Matt Stewart; and forwards Todd Dusosky, Johnny Torres and Kevin Burk.
Corner kicks: Players not seeing action were defender Adam Schultz, forward Choko Alvarado and goalkeepers Brad Swenby and Derek Gornee. … Jim Larkin, Milwaukee’s starting keeper last season, is expected to join the team this week. He recently completed the season with the Cleveland Force in the MISL. … Midfielder Johannes Maliza, a fifth-round pick of the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, came on to replace Nick Walls at an outside midfielder spot in the 61st minute. … Wave United continues preseason play this weekend with games at UW-Parkside (noon Saturday) and against Wisconsin at Uihlein (2 p.m. Sunday). Milwaukee closes out the preseason with home matches against Marquette at 5 p.m. April 28 and UW-Milwaukee at 2 p.m. April 30.
A-League preseason: April 21, 2004 – Uihlein Soccer Park
Milwaukee Wave United 3, Northwestern 0
Unofficial summary
Northwestern 0-0 — 0
Milwaukee Wave United 1-2 — 3
Milwaukee – Sam Sloma (Dennis Fadeski) 7
Milwaukee – Digital Takawira 57
Milwaukee – Digital Takawira 64
MILWAUKEE WAVE UNITED: Jeff Richey – Dennis Fadeski (Justin McMillan 72), Evan Richardson (Arne Barez 72), Steve Lawrence (Cheick Keita 82), Chad Dombrowski (Vadim Tsesarski 60) – Sam Sloma (Kyle Lance 60), Branko Savic (Dalibor 67), Mike Mielke (Kevin Novak 52), Nick Walls (Johannes Maliza 61) – Digital Takawira (Derek Rhodes 72), Sean Reti (Cal Thomas 60)
Saves: Northwestern – Brian Heckenbach 8; Milwaukee – Richey 5.
Discipline: Milwaukee – Vadim Tsesarski (caution, serious foul) 71
Weather: Cold, windy
