Milwaukee, WI
Tempers flare, fans get involved in ugly end to Wave-Sockers Game 1
Milwaukee Wave coach Marcio Leite on goalkeeper Jerry Perez’s offense
Milwaukee Wave Marcio Leite tells the origin story of the rookie goalkeepr who has become a serious scoring threat in the MASL.
Shoves escalated between the Milwaukee Wave and San Diego Sockers and fans got involved in the unpleasantries, turning the conclusion of Game 1 of the MASL championship series ugly.
In the final seconds of the Sockers’ 5-4 victory April 22 at the UWM Panther Arena, Wave defender Tony Walls took a kick to the groin on a play that ended any chance for a traditional exchange of handshakes and hugs.
Spirited jawing turned into jostling between players, and then fans joined in the altercation by pelting Sockers players with debris and drinks. Players retaliated. As the situation grew more chaotic, a security officer requested the presence of police who were at the Arena.
At the same time, officials were reviewing the play. Several minutes after the game the announcement came that Sockers defender Cesar Cerda had been issued a red card for violent conduct, making him ineligible for Game 2 on April 24 in Oceanside, California.
“It just got heated at the end [between] two high-level teams,” veteran Wave forward Ian Bennett said. “They’re very competitive, and who wants to win it? The rest, it was a hard game to ref, right? Because it’s a big game. It’s big final. Emotions are there.
“To be honest, our emotions got the best of us, because we’ve got to be smarter than that, right? We don’t need to play in their hands, but kudos to them, they won, and we just got to regroup and lick our wounds and come back on Friday ready to go.”
A loud and larger-than-usual crowd turned out for the final home game of 2025-26.
Two quick goals by Bennett early in the fourth quarter pulled the Wave within a goal at 4-3, but Milwaukee couldn’t maintain the spark, and Sockers midfielder Leonardo De Oliveira turned the momentum back around with 5 ½ minutes left. The Wave killed a two-minute San Diego power play resulting from too many men on the field, but by the time goalkeeper Jerry Perez gave the Wave another goal, just 33 seconds remained.
So now for the Wave to win an eighth arena soccer title, it must win back-to-back against the team that finished the regular season with the best record.
Milwaukee lost the opening game of its quarterfinal and semifinal series and won a regulation game followed by a quarter-length knockout game each time to advance. But those were at home; this time they’ll go on the road to play against the team that finished with the best record in the regular season. Game 3 would be a full-length game April 27.
“Very difficult,” first-year Wave head coach Marcio Leite said of the challenge that awaits.
“We’ve done it before. We beat them in their house. But we need to be smarter. And we need to play better. … We need to create better chances, then we need to make sure our shots are on target.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Milwaukee, WI
Squire Robinson leads a new generation of Milwaukee artists with his distinctly bold style
In a cavernous attic studio stands Squire Robinson.
Next to him on the ground is an unfinished painting of his. Hung above him are numerous paintings that he’s finished in the past year.
The walls are filled with works of art, crafted by the various artists who also call 100% MKE, a nonprofit arts studio and workspace at 217 N. Broadway, home.
Robinson’s art doesn’t just stand among them – it stands out.
Maybe it’s the saturated reds that prevail in each of his pieces.
Maybe it’s the bold strokes that create the even bolder figures that call his paintings home.
Either way, Robinson’s art has a tangible effect for those with the eyes to see.
“Sometimes the most important piece of art is that you feel. His art makes you feel,” Richard Badger Jr. said. Badger, who goes by the artist name Coyote Rich, is also an artist in residence at 100% MKE.
Robinson first fell in love with art through his grandfather, who painted signs for corner stores. Early memories of drawing contests with his grandfather enchanted Squire into the art world.
Later, Robinson drew comics and superhero characters, foreshadowing the powerful figures he paints today.
“My style has always been there, it’s just evolution, it grows and changes,” Robinson said.
Robinson, a 2024 graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, has always had a certain fascination with Renaissance-era paintings.
Yet despite his appreciation of the style, something was missing.
“I appreciated the technique and skill, but I just couldn’t really relate to it,” Robinson said.
For him, the lack of diversity made the style feel distant.
Black culture in art
Now, Robinson’s style flows through the powerful Black people he paints.
“I took some of that flavor and remixed it to something that is more me,” Robinson said. “My inspiration comes from Black culture, music and my dreams.”
Robinson’s own personality is vehemently present in each of his pieces.
“His art has a very strong personality behind it,” said Nelle Speerschneider, a co-founding board member of 100% MKE.
By the end of a lengthy creative process, Robinson’s pieces are saturated with color and shapes that make viewers stop and stare. For Robinson, that’s the goal.
“To me, good art is when you can just stare at it and sit with it and think,” Robinson said. “If you see my work and walk right past it, then I didn’t do something right.”
Music and the flow state
Robinson said when he is met with a blank canvas, he doesn’t begin with a person or a setting; he starts with the mood. Then, with the help of music, he lets his art flow.
“I don’t try to contain the style, it’s just all me,” Robinson said.
Music is a big deal for Robinson. So much so that he can’t paint without it. Robinson’s taste in music, from classical and jazz to his love for Kendrick Lamar, seeps into his art.
“Squire’s art makes me feel like music,” Badger said.
Robinson said music helps him loosen up and get out of a funk.
“It helps me escape and enter that flow state,” Robinson said.
He said music supports his ethereal creative process.
“Sometimes when I paint, I feel like I’m being guided by something higher than me,” Robinson said.
Milwaukee made
As a young figure in the Milwaukee art scene, Robinson wears the city on his sleeve.
“Growing up in Milwaukee made me hard in the sense of staying true to myself,” Robinson said.
At 100% MKE, Robinson offers a unique voice. “It’s nice to have his youthful and urban take in the studio,” Speerschneider said.
Badger said young artists like Robinson are vital for pushing the scene forward.
“They’re the driving force of what Milwaukee looks and feels like,” he said.
Future goals
Going forward, Robinson wants to become an art therapist, someone who uses the medium of art to process emotional challenges.
“Art has always been a way to self-express and get my own feelings out,” Robinson said. “That’s why the tone of my paintings matters the most, because those feelings are what I’m trying to evoke.”
As for his art career, Robinson says his finest work is yet to come.
“I haven’t created my best one yet.”
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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Milwaukee, WI
Post From Community: Laughing Liberally Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
The Brewers drafted 20 players over the course of 20 rounds in the 2026 MLB Draft, including first-round shortstop Trey Ebel, second-round outfielder Sawyer Strosnider, Wilmot Union HS (Wisconsin) shortstop Chance Ruby, and CC Sabathia’s son, first baseman Carsten Sabathia III. The team now has until 4 p.m. CT on July 27 to sign each draft pick. We’ll keep track of the signees below.
Milwaukee’s total signing bonus pool is $8,042,900, which can be allocated as the team chooses (i.e., slot bonuses are not the guaranteed signing value). Rounds 11-20 automatically have $150,000 allocated to the slot — money given to these picks only counts toward the bonus pool if they exceed $150,000. Teams that exceed their bonus pool face financial penalties, with higher thresholds resulting in the loss of future picks.
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