Milwaukee Men's Soccer Team Releases 2008 Schedule
May 14, 2008
MILWAUKEE - The 2008 schedule for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team features nine home games at Engelmann Field, a challenging non-conference slate and four games against teams that have played in the NCAA Tournament over the past two seasons. The full schedule was announced today by head coach Jon Coleman. The nine home games will include all three contests in which Milwaukee plays its opposition for a traveling trophy, including the Milwaukee Cup match-up with Marquette in late October. The last time UWM hosted the game in 2006, a record crowd of 3,256 packed Engelmann Field. The standing-room only crowd witnessed the Panthers overcome a 2-0 deficit to win, 3-2. Milwaukee will also take on Santa Clara and UIC, two teams that advanced deep into the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Other opponents that have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in the past two seasons include Loyola and Binghamton. "We really focused this year on balancing the schedule," Coleman said. "I think it is laid out to have the quality and competition to help us do well in conference and the conference tournament and help prepare us for the NCAA Tournament." Complete 2008 Men's Soccer Schedule in PDF Format
The team opens the regular season with a tournament at Drake University, playing the host Bulldogs to start the campaign Aug. 30 while also taking on Missouri State Aug. 31. "The way we set up our preseason schedule - against some good opposition [including Aug. 18 against a Bradley team that advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight] - it will help us prepare going into that opening weekend," Coleman said. "We played Drake last year at our place. We played them well but they came out ahead so we have to go there and take care of business." UWM then travels to Madison Sept. 5-7 for its 13th appearance at the Wisconsin Invitational. There it will take on Santa Clara - a team that went 16-2-4 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007 - and a quality Dayton team that was 10-4-5 last year. "The quality of competition remains at the Madison tournament and it will be a good test for us," Coleman said. "Santa Clara is an out of region game that will also help with RPI. We haven't really been able to catch a break in Madison [over the past few seasons], but we will look to do so this year. Then we play a decent team in Dayton, a midwest team. That will be two really good games to help us prepare for our Panther Invitational." The 35th Annual Panther Invitational will be up next, with the Panthers taking on Binghamton in their home opener at Engelmann Field on Sept. 12. Other teams at the tournament include Wisconsin and Cal Northridge, which UWM will play Sept. 14. "Binghamton and Cal Northridge [Sweet 16 in 2005] are both teams that have made the tournament," Coleman said. "It will be good competition against two teams that are out of region. We are really looking forward to this year's tournament. We are increasing the caliber of teams that we bring in ... both of these will be difficult games." After another home game against SIU-Edwardsville Sept. 20, the team starts Horizon League play on the road at Valparaiso Sept. 26 before opening its home league slate versus Butler Sept. 28. "We start our conference schedule on the road this time, against a Valparaiso team that keeps getting better," Coleman said. "And then we host one of our rivals in Butler. We look forward to that before heading back on the road to Detroit and Cleveland State. That will be a deciding road trip, at that point, to kind of figure out where we are going to be in the league standings." The Panthers make that tough road trip to open the month of October, playing at Detroit Oct. 3 and Cleveland State Oct. 5. They continue that road trip with their yearly match-up with in-state rival Wisconsin Oct. 8. Three of the next four games on the schedule are home games and each will be played for a traveling trophy. First up will be the Chancellor's Cup game against Green Bay Oct. 11. That will be followed by the LeWang Trophy battle with Northern Illinois Oct. 14 and the Milwaukee Cup match-up against the Golden Eagles Oct. 22. A road trip to league contender Loyola will also take place Oct. 18. "We will be looking to keep the Chancellor's Cup and get the LeWang Trophy back," Coleman said. "Those will be two games we will be looking forward to at that time. We like that with this year's schedule the games in the later portion of the schedule are spread out which will allow us time to prepare, rest some guys if needed and get the most out of the team and the players heading down the stretch." Milwaukee will look to maintain possession of the Milwaukee Cup for the fifth-straight year when they host Marquette. "It's always a treat to host that game," Coleman said. "Hopefully we will not get down two goals early and have to come back to win [like the last time UWM hosted MU]. But it's always a great atmosphere and a great college soccer game and we are looking forward to it." The final two games of the regular season will play a pivotal role in where UWM ends up in the Horizon League standings. It will take on league-favorite UIC - which advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals last season - Oct. 25 before closing out the year against Wright State Oct. 31. "At that point, you are playing against really good teams that should be contending for the top spots in the league," Coleman said. "Those last two games will be deciding moments with where you sit in the league. UIC has really done well the past few seasons and, knowing them, will be contending again this year. That will be two good games to gear us up for the conference tournament." UWM has won four of the past six Horizon League Tournament Championships and four of the past seven regular season crowns. It went 5-12-3 a year ago after losing nine one-goal games, but took second place in the Horizon League standings with a 5-2-1 mark.
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