Look at No. 30 on the Milwaukee Wave roster.
First see that it says Gerardo Perez. Nobody calls him that. The kids he grew up with around Round Lake, Illinois, struggled to roll the first r. So he’s Jerry. Even his mother calls him Jerry.
And then note the position. It says goalkeeper. But that doesn’t fully describe the role played by the 21-year-old rookie on a veteran team about to play for the MASL championship.
Perez spent so much time going forward as a sixth attacker that he finished the regular season with seven goals, tied for eighth-most on the team. Then, his first goal in the playoffs was vital to getting the Wave into the finals.
“He’s a special player,” Wave coach Marcio Leite said. “He’s a player that, yeah, he’s a goalie, but he probably could make the team as a field player. That’s how good he is and how comfortable on the ball and how skillful he is.”
The Wave is set to host the San Diego Sockers in Game 1 of the MASL Ron Newman Cup championship series at 6:35 p.m. April 22 at the UWM Panther Arena.
Game 2 is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. April 24 in Oceanside, California, and a potential Game 3 would take place there three days later.
Perez is the youngest in a family of four; his book-smart sister was more of a track athlete, his father had played soccer in Mexico and his mother says she played basketball although Jerry has yet to see photos to back that claim up.
He became a goalkeeper almost by accident when he was 11 or 12 while playing youth club soccer in northern Illinois.
“I was a field player at first,” Perez said after practice April 20 at Uihlein Soccer Park. “I wasn’t really the best and our team wasn’t the best.
“They just decided to throw me [in goal] against one of the best teams. We were in last place and we were losing, like, 8-1 a lot. I decided to play goalie that day and we lost 2-1. I mean, we still lost, but it was against the best team and usually we’d lose, like, by 17-0 or something.
“That’s how I started getting in the net, and I was like, yeah, I’m going to keep doing this.”
Perez continued to train as a field player before getting his first real instruction as a keeper with Sockers FC Chicago.
He played one season of college soccer for Judson University in Elgin, Illinois, and last season he made his pro debut with the Chicago Mustangs of the MLIS, a less established indoor league.
Perez came to the attention of the Wave during an offseason scrimmage between Milwaukee and Chicago players.
“We saw this kid that was extremely comfortable with the ball on his feet,” Leite said. “So we watched him two, three times. We wanted to see if he was pretty good in goal too.
“And once we saw that, I mean, I called the president, Shan [Amini], and said, hey, we need to sign this kid because it’s going to bring something different to our team, something that we don’t have, and that could be a difference-maker. And I’m glad we did because every time that kid has stepped on a field, he has made a difference.”
Perez spent most of the regular season backing up veteran William Banahene, who was an all-star in 2025, but still made four starts and played in 14 of the 22 games. He has started four of the six playoff games and played in all of them. His goals-against average of 3.27 in the playoffs is second-lowest and his four wins are the most.
As much of a gamble as it is to leave the goal open and use the keeper on offense, the practice is coming into use more, even when it’s not a desperate situation in the final minute or two of a game.
Under MASL rules, the goalkeeper is allowed to handle the ball with his feet once per possession in his own end of the field. When the ball goes past midfield he is just like any of the other five players.
“I believe we have the best offensive sixth attacker in the league,” Leite said. “So we have given up a few goals, but I think we have scored two or three times more when he’s on the field.”
Perez’s most notable score came in the Wave’s victory in the knockout game over the Baltimore Blast on the night Milwaukee advanced to the finals. After picking up the win in goal in the regulation-length Game 2 earlier in the night, Perez pulled the Wave even in the 15-minute Game 3 that was subsequently won off the foot of Andre Hayne.
While an important single moment, Perez is reticent to call it the highlight of his year.
“My personal goal, my highlight, was just going to break into the team, into the roster and just getting the opportunity to travel with the group,” he said. “We just exceed that and more.”
Perez is quick to concede he has much to learn as a goalkeeper. At 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, he’s on the smaller size for the position, and he’s still working to understand the quirky bounces the ball takes off the walls indoors to become better at stopping shots. Positioning and patience are goals, as well.
“There’s a lot I need to improve on,” Perez said. “Probably just not trying to be as crazy and take as much risk back there, because I know my teammates probably get scared when I take one too many touches. And coach.”
Maybe. But Leite will get over the occasional scare if it means he gets what the Wave has out of Perez with the promise of more.
“He is a special kind of talent,” Leite said, “but the thing I’m probably most proud of, he’s 21 years old, but he plays like he’s 30. He’s playing like he’s been in the league forever. His confidence, his ability to handle pressure and tough moments has been fantastic.”
Pressure? Tough moments? Sounds like he’s talking about a championship series.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Wave goalkeeper Jerry Perez known for his offense in MASL
Reporting by Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
