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UWM Faces Horizon League Road Test This Weekend

Team at Detroit Friday; Cleveland State Sunday

Sept. 30, 2008

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team prepares for an important weekend of Horizon League action, hitting the road for games against Detroit and Cleveland State. The Panthers open the weekend against the Titans at 3 p.m. CST Friday before closing out the road trip versus the Vikings Sunday, scheduled for a 1 p.m. CST start time. UWM is in search of a productive trip up the standings after a slow 0-1-1 start in league play. Meanwhile, Detroit checks in at 1-1 with an upset of Loyola and CSU is 0-2.

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UWM leads the all-time series with Detroit by a count of 11-6-2, with the teams splitting the past four meetings. A year ago, the Panthers recorded the 400th win in program history when they downed the Titans, 1-0, at home. UWM has owned the series of late, winning 10 of the last 12.

The Panthers have 23 wins all-time against Cleveland State (23-12-2), one of the highest totals against any opponent all-time. This series, which dates back to the 1973 season, will see UWM carry an impressive 18-game winning streak into play Sunday, having not tied or lost a game to CSU since 1989.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
DETROIT: The Titans enter play Friday at 2-6-0 overall and 1-1 in league play. After opening the season with five-consecutive losses, UDM is a much-improved 2-1 in its past three matches. Last Friday, it posted an impressive 2-1 victory at Loyola against a Rambler team that was nationally-ranked in some polls.

Head coach Morris Lupenec, now in his 17th season, returns 11 players from the 2007 roster, including four seniors: Joe Hess, Brandon Powell, Renato Susnja and Simon Zahra. Susnja ended last year as the Titans' leading scorer with seven goals and a team-best 16 points. For his efforts, Susnja was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team and the all-conference second team.

The team has eight goals in eight matches in 2008, with Nick Dreshaj leading the way with five points on two goals and one assist. In goal, Bryan Kloss has seen the majority of time, recording a 2.24 GAA.

CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings are 1-6-2 overall and are off to a rough start in league play. Not only are they 0-2, but the results have not been pretty: 5-0 losses to both UIC and Loyola last weekend.

Third-year head coach Ali Kazemaini has a young, talented roster with nine starters returning from last season's 3-12-3 team. This year, eight freshmen and three transfers have been added to the mix.

Offensively, Jeff Baker and Mitch Boyer each lead the way with four points on two goals, while Bryan Henson has three assists. In goal, Nick Harpel has played every minute in 2008, recording a 2.18 GAA and .691 save percentage.

SLOW START TO LEAGUE PLAY
UWM did not get the results it was hoping for last week, as it played Valparaiso to a 2-2 draw to open league play Friday before getting beat, 4-3, by Butler at home Sunday.

Freshman Ross Van Osdol scored with just 54 seconds remaining to help Milwaukee earn the draw with Valparaiso, and it was his late goal Sunday that pulled the Panthers to within one.

The problem for Milwaukee was a slow start, as the team was plagued by 2-0 deficits in both games. The Crusaders jumped out to that early lead by the 24th minute Friday and the Bulldogs were up a pair of goals by the ninth minute Sunday. While UWM was able to dig out of both holes (it was tied, 2-2, with BU at one point Sunday), the defense had been carrying the team throughout the first seven games - having allowed just six goals in the first seven matches - a number that was matched by the two opponents in games No. 8 and No. 9 over last weekend.

The four goals given up by the team Sunday was quite an anomaly. The last time the Panthers allowed four goals to any opponent in any game was a 4-1 loss to Tulsa in September of 2004. It also marked the most UWM has given up to the Bulldogs since allowing four in 1992 and is actually the first time Milwaukee had allowed more than two goals to Butler since a 3-0 loss in 1999.

JUST CALL HIM MR. PLAYMAKER
Sophomore Robert Refai made the most of his second start of the season Sunday, as he was credited with assists on two UWM goals. On the first, he dribbled down the right side line and sent a long cross into the 18-yard box. The pass threaded its way through the back line to sophomore Peter Sanger at the far post. Sanger then beat the keeper to the ball for an easy tap-in for his second goal of the season. Refai created the second chance when he saved the ball from going over the end line at the far side of the box, made a move around a defender and sent a centering pass to freshman Eric Frazier coming in from the top of the 18-yard box. It marked the first multi-assist game for a UWM player since Craig Mallace recorded two against Butler Oct. 8, 2006.

HORIZON LEAGUE WONDERS
UWM has won the Horizon League regular season title in four of the past seven seasons, posting a win-loss record of 39-7-4 in that span. The Panthers became the first-ever Horizon League school to win four-straight soccer titles (2002-05), breaking Evansville's old standard of three consecutive (1989-91).

ABOUT THOSE THREE LOSSES
A closer look at Milwaukee's 3-3-3 record this season shows just how far this young team has already come this season. In addition to being four and a half games better than last year's squad after nine games, record-wise, the Panthers' three losses have come against some stiff competition. Drake is now 8-1-0, nationally-ranked and did not give up a goal in its first six matches of season. The Bulldogs' only loss came at the hands of No. 3 California in a match in which their starting goalkeeper was sitting out due to a red card he had received the game before. Meanwhile, Butler is 6-1-2 and Santa Clara was ranked in the top five of every preseason poll - including as high as No. 1 in Top Drawer Soccer's preseason poll.

BOX SCORE SCRUTINY
Despite outshooting SIUE, 14-12, Sept. 20, one box score statistic that might have been overlooked was UWM not forcing a single corner kick, as SIUE held a 6-to-0 advantage. The last time that Milwaukee was held without a corner kick before that was 34 games ago in a match against UIC Oct. 3, 2006.

200 SOUNDS GOOD
The Panthers love to play at Engelmann Field and their record over the years proves just that. Their all-time ledger at the field entering the 2008 campaign was 195-69-20, an impressive .722 winning percentage. With nine games on the home slate this fall, looks like UWM will be celebrating victory No. 200 on its storied home field at some point this season.

No. 196: Cal State Northridge, 1-0, Sept. 14
No. 197: SIUE, 2-1, Sept. 20
No. 198:
No. 199:
No. 200:

THE YOUNG GUNS
Freshmen Evan Bartzis, Ross Van Osdol and Eric Frazier have made nice impressions in their first season, accounting for seven of UWM's 11 goals to this point in the year. If you look at the stats, Milwaukee's top five point producers are freshmen or sophomores. Frazier has a team-high nine points (3G/3A), ranking fourth in the league is both goals and assists. Sanger is second with five points (2G/1A), while Bartzis (2G), Van Osdol (2G) and sophomore Robert Refai (1G/2A) all have four points.

POINT-PER-GAME CLUB
Speaking of freshman Eric Frazier, one look at the scoring chart shows the production he has helped bring to the offense already this season. He leads the team with nine points in nine games, a point total that currently ranks fourth in the Horizon League. The nine points is more than any player recorded last season besides the top spot (Zeke Dombrowski had 11) and his three assists are also as many as the 2007 team leader finished with.

LATE-GAME DRAMA
The winning goal that Eric Frazier netted Sept. 5 against Dayton is one of the latest goals to be scored, time-wise, to claim a victory for UWM in regulation and avoid overtime in quite a while. It marked the latest a winning Milwaukee goal was scored since Neil Dombrowski netted the game-winner with just 33 seconds remaining in a match against Akron on Oct. 5, 2003.

FINALLY HOME
Milwaukee's opening-round game in the Panther Invitational Sept. 12 marked the 36th home opener in program history. With the 0-0 draw against Binghamton, the team is now 24-8-4 in such games at Engelmann Field.

DEFENSE!! ... DEFENSE!!
The 0-0 draw against Binghamton Sept. 12 had as much to do with the weather and field conditions as anything else, but also marked the first scoreless game for UWM since playing UIC Oct. 12 of the 2005 season. It was also just the third scoreless game since the 1999 season.

OVERTIME JINX CONTINUES
In playing Valparaiso to a 2-2 draw Sept. 26, UWM saw a streak get extended once again that they would like to put to rest: the team is now 0-7-14 in its past 21 overtime matches. It was 0-2-3 in 2007, 0-2-2 in 2006, 0-3-5 in 2005 and lost in extra time in the final match of the 2004 season (2-1 at UCSB in the NCAA Tournament). The Panthers last OT victory came Oct. 31, 2004, a 1-0 win over Cleveland State.

SENIORS READY TO BOOKEND CAREERS
Three seniors on the 2008 squad will look to go out on a high note, and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament is what they have in mind. After going to the second round of the tournament in their freshman season, Travis Phillips, Grant Fernstrum and Adam Skalecki look to improve on their NCAA ledger with a return trip this fall. The fourth senior on the squad, Ryan Germann, was a transfer to Milwaukee after his freshman season at American University.

SHINING IN LEAGUE PLAY
After a slow start to the 2007 season, the Panthers righted the ship in time for the start of Horizon League play. In their eight conference games, the team gave up just five goals (posting four clean sheets) for a team goals against average of 0.61.

They held edges in every statistical category: goals (9-5), assists (8-5), shots (95-85), shots on goal (41-31) and corner kicks (48-38). Five different players accounted for the five game-winning goals en route to a second-place showing in the standings.

SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR
If it feels like the Panthers have been in every match but haven't been able to catch a few necessary breaks the past few seasons, it could be considered a factual statement. After a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Butler Sept. 28, the trend sounds familiar: 19 of the last 24 UWM losses dating back the past two-plus years have been by one goal.

Further analysis of the schedule a year ago shows just what kind of competition head coach Jon Coleman had on the schedule. Overall, the combined W-L-T record of all opponents for the season was 169-149-79, a .525 win percentage. For comparison, UIC, which won the league tournament and made a deep run into the NCAA postseason, ended the year with an opponent W-L-T record of just 216-210-83, a .505 win percentage.

Seven of UWM's 2007 opponents were ranked at one point during the season and the W-L-T record of the teams that handed the Panthers their 12 losses was 122-72-48 (.604).

In 2006, the Panthers overall record consisted of nine losses, with eight of them one-goal setbacks. Three of them came at the hands of Top 25 teams: 1-0 to No. 2 SMU Aug. 27, 2-1 to No. 6 Washington in overtime Sept. 10 and 1-0 to No. 12 UIC Oct. 3.

HOME COOKING
Despite a 2-3-2 mark at Engelmann in 2007, the Panthers still rank right up there with the best in the country when it comes to home-field advantage. In 2006, that was no different, as the Panthers posted back-to-back shutouts to open the home slate and finished 7-2-1. Since the start of the 2001 season, UWM has turned Engelmann Field into a place visiting teams do not want to see on their schedule. They have gone 52-8-3 on their home pitch in that time, including a 13-2 mark in postseason play and a perfect 2-0 mark in NCAA Tournament action.

QUITE AN EXHIBITION
The Panthers got the 2008 season off on the right foot, marching through a two-game exhibition slate where they went back-to-back games without allowing a goal. The first came Aug. 18 with an impressive 1-0 victory over Bradley, a team that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament after winning regular season and tournament titles in the Missouri Valley Conference a year ago and entered ranked No. 21 by the NSCAA's preseason poll. The Panthers then toppled UW-Whitewater, 3-0, Aug. 20 with an impressive overall performance, using all 20 players that were dressed and healthy for the game.

The four goals were scored by four different players, including two by newcomers. Sophomore Robert Refai led the way with eight shots in the two games, with junior Nicholas Gerard-Larson, sophomore Peter Sanger and freshman Nick Dundon recording four each. Dundon and senior Travis Phillips topped the team with three points (1G/1A). In goal, seniors Grant Fernstrum and Ryan Germann split the time in half in each contest, with the defense playing so well in front of them that they were only called upon to make five total saves combined.

PANTHERS IN THE PROS
After wrapping up his college career in 2007, Steve Bode was drafted by the Chicago Fire of MLS and by the Milwaukee Wave.

In addition to Bode continuing his career in the world of professional soccer, former UWM player Tenzin Rampa was also drafted following his senior campaign by the Milwaukee Wave in the fifth round of the 2008 Major Indoor Soccer League College Draft.

HITTING THE BOOKS
UWM had three players honored for their work in the classroom by the league office last year. Steve Bode, Zeke Dombrowski and Ken Ogorzalek were all named to the Horizon Academic All-League Team in December. Dombrowski was also selected as the league Scholar Athlete of the Week in October.

After graduation, Ogorzalek went on to receive a prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to pursue his graduate degree at the University of California-Berkeley in structural engineering. Nearly 40,000 students apply to the NSF fellowship program each year, less than 1,000 go on to earn the awards.

The Panther men were also once again named a recipient of the NCSAA/adidas Team Academic Award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

UWM IN THE POLLS
The Panthers were picked by league coaches to place fifth in the Horizon League regular season, according to the results of the preseason poll announced Aug. 18 by the league office. Milwaukee has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in five of the past seven seasons, reaching the second round in the last four it appeared (2002-05). It has compiled a league record of 39-7-4 in that time.

UIC, which advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season and is ranked as high as No. 16 in the national preseason polls, took the top spot for the second-straight year with 64 points and eight first place votes. Green Bay landed in second, compiling 52 points to edge out Loyola, which had 51. Butler (43) came in just ahead of UWM (39), with Valparaiso (26), Wright State (20), Detroit (16) and Cleveland State (13) rounding out the poll.

1. UIC (8 first place votes) - 64 pts.
2. Green Bay (1) - 52
3. Loyola - 51
4. Butler - 43
5. Milwaukee - 39
6. Valparaiso - 26
7. Wright State - 20
8. Detroit - 16
9. Cleveland State - 13

ON TAP
The Panthers stay on the road for one more game, heading to Madison for their annual match-up with the Badgers on Wednesday. Then, they welcome Green Bay to Engelmann Field Saturday night for the annual Chancellor's Cup showdown with the Phoenix. Both games have 7 p.m. start times.