April 23, 2002

MILWAUKEE -- UWM coach Louis Bennett added two more players to his 2002 roster when Julian Chang (Port of Spain, Trinidad/Reynoldsburg H.S.) and Michael Mallett (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside H.S.) were admitted to the university, with both players intending to enroll and play for the Panthers in the fall.

Chang transfers from Eastern Illinois and will have two years of eligibility at Milwaukee. A 5-foot-7 interior midfielder, he was named honorable mention all-conference as a sophomore in the Missouri Valley Conference, which includes Southern Methodist, Creighton and Tulsa. He started 15 of 16 games played and ranked second on his team in scoring with 17 points (6 goals, five assists). Chang also received All-MVC academic honors this past fall out of 14 student-athletes in the conference.

Chang played against Milwaukee during the 2001 season when Eastern Illinois competed in UWM's Panther Invitational. The Panthers won, 3-0.

"In the interior midfield, we need someone who is a proven point scorer, because as of now, we have a lot of talent and potential, but no one who has scored in excess of eight points," Bennett said. "Julian scored 17 points in the Missouri Valley Conference. His play greatly impressed me in our tournament and he expressed a strong interest to come to UWM. I felt obligated to give both him the opportunity to play and the squad the opportunity to be greatly strengthened."

A 5-foot-11 defender, Mallett will join the Panthers as a true freshman after compiling 38 goals and 46 assists in his four-year varsity career at Riverside High School. He has played for the Wisconsin Olympic Development Program for the past four years and also plays club soccer for both F.C. Milwaukee and the Simba Lions.

"Michael has a unique perspective on the sport of soccer, having played forward for his high school team and then defender for both his club team and ODP team," Bennett said. "We see him giving depth to our defensive line. He's strong, quick and can develop into a quality 1v1 defensive player. Obviously, we're happy to have him in this already talented class of newcomers."

Chang and Mallett are the latest addition to the 2002 roster, joining incoming freshmen Eric Mickschl (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet H.S.) and Bill Meier (Racine, Wis./St. Catherines H.S.), transfers Cliff Ellsworth (Mequon, Wis./Homestead H.S./Indiana) and David Ballantyne (Newcastle, England/Queen of the South of Scotland) and returnees Daniel Saavedra (Milwaukee, Wis./Tech H.S.) and Alejandro Munoz (Pereira, Columbia/Greenfield H.S.).

"I think this is a class not only for the immediate, but for the future," Bennett said. "When you have a squad that did that well last year with a majority of freshmen and sophomores, finding recruits good enough to compete for starting positions and tenacious enough to stay with it if all the pieces don't fall in to place immediately was a real focus this year in recruiting. Only time will tell, but I'm happy with the character of the incoming class."