MILWAUKEE'S SECRET SAUCE

Alex Sanchez will be the first one to tell you that he is far from the finished product.

He is only 25 years old and is in his fourth year with the Milwaukee Wave.

"One thing that I could tell you is that in this game, it's just gaining confidence, experience and maturity," he said. "If you look at the league’s history, you see San Diego, Baltimore, the Milwaukee Wave. You have lots of guys that have been so successful for the reason that they have players who understand the game.

"As the years progress and I play more and more, I'm just learning more and more things. This is year four for me, and I still don't know this game. I'm still learning stuff. You can never stop learning things. Every day on that training field, every game that passes by, you learn more things. The more games we play, the more you learn."

Now, that is some frightening news for Major Arena Soccer League opponents because Sanchez is already one of the top players around. And as we have learned forwards in indoor soccer league many times don’t hit their prime until they hit their 30’s.

A first-team all-star at midfield last season, Sanchez is in the midst of another fine season. He is second in goals (14 ) and fourth in points (19) and sixth in points per game (1.9). He also has five assists.

After a career campaign in 2024-25 (27 goals, 21 assists), the 5-foot-9, 160-lb. midfielder is on a pace to exceed his goal production. That has come from experience, maturity and his teammates.

"Just making smarter decisions on the field," he said. "With the help or my teammates, it's definitely improved over the years because before, I was always dribble first and shoot from anywhere, type of guy. I've learned to find that extra pass. ... Before, I would take shots from the yellow line that wouldn't do anything, not really help the team out a lot.

"As the years progress, if you're doing things right, and you're putting in the work, the only thing you can do is get better. Going into this year, I talked to a few of my teammates, older guys. The coaching staff would tell me that the whole hard thing is not getting to the top but maintaining yourself at the top. Coming into this year, high expectations. They know he could do this; he could do that. He could score. Okay. But can he maintain that level? Or is it just one season wonder or a fluke. I’m always working hard and keep going and never satisfied. That's just the mentality that I ride every year."

The player nicknamed Saucy because Sanchez has celebrated goals by stirring the pot, certainly lived up to that name and then some on Dec. 20. Sanchez scored a career-best four goals, helping the Wave overcome a 6-4 deficit in the fourth quarter en route to a 7-6 home victory over the Baltimore Blast on Dec. 19. Sanchez cut the lead to a goal at 6:57 of the period and tallied the game-winner 5:33 into overtime. At the left post, he slotted home a save of an Oscar Flores shot past keeper Julian Rodriguez.

"The one thing that I can say about this league is that all teams play well at home," Sanchez said. "The fans are behind you, motivating you, even if you're losing. That's definitely a big help. It's just having that mindset that you don't lose at home. We always talk about how our home should be our fortress, that we've got to defend it.

 “Though we were down, we kept motivating each other. It comes back to the shift in energy. Even though things aren't going our way, we still stick together and just motivate each other to lead to that final whistle. It's just having each other's backs, no matter what."

Sanchez said it was difficult to describe his feelings about that particular game-winning goal. After slipping the ball into the net, he ran over to the sideboards, sat on it, with his hands on his hips as a teammate stirred the pot.

"Once the ball is in the back, the only thing I can think of is how am I going to celebrate?" he said. "It was just excitement, just being with the fans. Everybody's just loud, cheering your teammates. It's just a great feeling. I can't really describe it. It's just one of those things where you just have to be there in the moment."

The Wave standout goals have been quite popular, getting plenty of play and hits on social media.

"I'm just happy of how things are turning out," he said. "We could go back and see the goals, like behind the yellow line screamer going top corner. It's definitely a good feeling. I'm just grateful to see that. I guess you could say my hard work is getting recognized."

If you were wondering about why Sanchez wears No. 80 instead of a much lower number, there is a good reason. He decided to honor his father Alejandro.

"Growing up playing club, playing in a high school, college, obviously, the main numbers that I would always use would be seven or 10," he said. "Those are the popular numbers that Messi, Ronaldo use. All the kids want to use that number. But coming into the league, having a lot of numbers are retired and certain guys already have the number. The one thing that I turned to was just honoring my dad. He was born in 1980."

Sanchez might be the Wave' leading scorer, but he knows it isn't about him, but about his team. Entering Thursday's action, the Wave (6-2-2, 19 points) is in second place behind the Kansas City Comets (8-3-2, 24) but has three games in hand. Milwaukee plays at the St. Louis Ambush on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 5:05 p.m. ET.

The Wave has won seven indoor championships in its 42-year history, and Sanchez would love to celebrate number eight. The team last captured an MASL crown in 2018-19.

"My first three years, we're almost there, the semifinal right before the championship game," he said. "We always fall short. Every year it was semifinal, semifinal, semifinal. So, we're just knocking at the door. We're almost there. What can we do since we're almost there? What is that extra thing we could do to make it to that Ron Newman Cup championship game? And just looking at this year, hopefully this new shift in energy in the locker room could carry on leading us to that championship game."

And it would not be surprising if Alex Sanchez is leading the way.

Michael Lewis, the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award in 2025, can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky at @Soccerwriter. His 10th soccer book, Around the World Cup in 40 Years: An American sportswriter's perspective, will be published this spring.