After goals, he doesn't climb the boards, dance or point to the name on the back of his jersey.

But Giuliano Oliviero just keeps scoring points, as he has for his entire 15-year indoor career. Heading into Saturday's game at Baltimore, Oliviero has 997 career regular-season points to put himself in reach of the 1,000-point milestone.

Indoor soccer records are not complete, but only 10 players in history have scored at least 1,100 points, led by the 2,339 of Hector Marinaro. Oliviero is almost assuredly among the top 20 all-time indoor soccer scorers at this point in his career. Most recent to reach the mark are Don D'Ambra (1,046) and Lee Tschantret (1,016), both of whom are no longer active. D'Ambra is the coach in Philadelphia.

"It's an achievement, and something I'm looking forward to," said the Vancouver native. "I know if I'm scoring points, I'm helping the team win games, and that's the bottom line."

Oliviero scored 89 points in his rookie indoor season, back in 1995-96 with the Wave. After one more year in Milwaukee, he moved around to the Montreal Impact, Toronto Thunderhawks, Cleveland Crunch and Cleveland Force before returning to Milwaukee for the 2003-04 season.

In 1999-2000 with Montreal, Oliviero scored a career-best 143 points (1 3PG, 41 2PG, 6 1PG, 52A) but consistency has been his trademark. He has recorded at least 10 goals and 10 assists in every one of his previous 14 seasons, and is on pace to get there again (1 3PG, 2 2PG, 8A). Last season, at age 34, he led the Xtreme Soccer League with 20 assists.

Oliviero, also the Wave's assistant coach, is an important member of the Wave's power play and restart units and also has played in every game the last couple of years, important in the very physical indoor game.

"I imagine Gules is a very good bumper pool player, because he understands angles and concepts," said Wave coach Keith Tozer. "He doesn't have to be fast and furious, because he beats you through his technical ability and awareness. He's also a good team player."

Oliviero also has created a strong on-field bond with fellow Canadian Kyt Selaidopoulos, a close friend who joined the Wave this season. Selaidopoulos played with Oliviero in both Montreal (1999-00) and Milwaukee (2005-06). Six times this season one has set up the other for a goal, including twice in last Saturday's 13-10 win over Baltimore.

POOR STARTS: After opening the season outscoring opponents in the first quarter by a 23-4 margin, the Wave are now digging themselves into a negative position.

Opponents have scored the first goal in eight consecutive games, and the Wave have not led at the end of the first quarter in seven consecutive games.

"The nemesis in all our losses has been falling behind," Oliviero said. "I feel like we've been chasing the game a lot this year."

Getting down by a goal at home is generally not a big deal, Oliviero said. Home crowds and comfortable surroundings allow you stick with your game plan. But a deficit on the road, especially by a couple of goals, really changes the game. The leading team can be patient while the trailing team must force the action, chasing on defense and leaving it open to counter attacks.

Saturday's opponent, Baltimore, is 0-3 against the Wave only because the team has rallied from deficits of 6-2 in one game and 9-4 in another.

SCORING PUNCH: The uncertain situation of leading scorer Marco Terminesi has the team searching for more consistent point production. In the three games he's missed due to a lingering illness, the Wave have scored 21 total points.

Terminesi, who tops the MISL with 35 points despite missing those games, is listed as questionable this week as well. In addition to struggles in the run of play, the Wave have had big problems on restarts in the attacking zone.

Milwaukee is loaded with proven scorers, from Oliviero to veterans who came from other teams, such as Ryan Mack and Ian Bennett. But so far it isn't translating to the kind of points the team needs.

"It's something we work on every day in practice," Oliviero said. "The new guys are still getting to know each other and their habits in and around the goal."

Still, there are bright spots. The team is still second in the MISL in power play percentage at 9 of 20 (45 percent) and has a league-best plus-14 point differential.

SCHEDULE BREAK?: Though every player and coach insist that back-to-back games are something you have to survive, the Wave lost the second game of each of their January back-to-backs.

But those are now done for the season, as Milwaukee plays one game per week for the rest of the year, through March 20. Plus, five of the last six games are at home with only a bus trip to Rockford mixed in. Plane trips are over following next Saturday's game at Philadelphia.