Oct. 31, 2001

MILWAUKEE -- The No. 21 UWM men's soccer team (15-3, 6-0 Horizon) is aiming to sweep its league schedule for the first time since 1993 when UIC comes to Milwaukee on Sat., Nov. 3, for a 1 p.m. match-up. The Panthers clinched the regular-season league championship on the road over the weekend.

Milwaukee remained undefeated in league play with wins on the road at Wright State on Friday and Butler on Sunday. Both the Raiders and Bulldogs were tied for second place in the league, and both teams fell to UWM by 3-2 scores.

The wins elevated the Panthers to No. 21 in the NSCAA national poll, while still holding the No. 3 position in the Great Lakes Regional rankings.

UIC (10-4-1, 4-1-1 Horizon) moved into second place in the league standings with a 3-1 win over Detroit on Sunday. The Flames were nationally ranked for most of the season before falling to Wright State on Oct. 21.

The Panthers lead the all-time series against the Flames, 13-6-2, though UIC won both meetings last season at home. Milwaukee's last win in the series came in 1999 at Engelmann Field.

UWM Recap

* The Panthers defeated the Raiders on Friday on a pair of Ryan Seymour goals. Seymour's first goal in the 21st minute led off the scoring while he scored UWM's third goal and the gamewinner in the 58th minute. Chad Dombrowski added a goal on the Panthers' first penalty kick conversion of the season.

* In Indianapolis on Sunday, Milwaukee fought back from 1-0 and 2-1 defecits to upend Butler 3-2 after 11 minutes of overtime. Ryan Seymour's 13th and 14th goals of the season were both equalizers in regulation, while Chad Dombrowski scored the gamewinner just past the hundred minute mark off an assist from Tighe Dombrowski.

UWM (15-3, 6-0 Horizon) Game Notes

* With their Sunday afternoon win over Butler, the Panthers pushed their 2001 win total to 15, one shy of tying the school record for wins in a season. More importantly, the 15 wins leads all of NCAA Division I. No. 1 Southern Methodist is second in the nation with 14 wins.

* Following his four-goal roadtrip, Ryan Seymour was named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Monday. Seymour has been recognized with the award twice on the season now, as he was also named the player of the week on Oct. 2.

* Goalkeepers Chris Dadaian and Brad Swenby have been battling close for the starting spot in front of the net for UWM. Both have been playing well for UWM, though Dadaian has seen more time as he has started 13 games including Sunday afternoon's start against Cleveland State. Posting a 11-2 record, Dadaian leads the league with five shutouts and also has a 1.11 GAA. Swenby has started five times, and has a 4-1 record on the season and 0.86 GAA, which is second in the league.

* Ryan Seymour leads UWM in scoring with 36 points, including 14 goals and eight assists. Seymour leads the league in points, shots (78) and is second in goals (14) and assists (8). Kyle Lance leads the league in assists (10), and is second on team scoring with 20 points (5g, 10a). Antou Jallow (8g) is tied with defender Chad Dombrowski (6g, 4a) for third on the team with 16 points.

* According to the Horizon League release last week, UWM leads the league in most major team statistical categories, including shots, points, goals, assists, goals allowed per game and shutouts.

UIC (10-4-1, 4-1-1 Horizon) Game Notes

* The Flames will not be the top-seeded team in the league tournament for the first time since 1998. UIC will be seeded second or third for the upcoming tournament depending on the result of Saturday's match.

* UIC is led in scoring by sophomore Dennis King's 24 points (9g, 5a). Patrick Grange is second on the team with 23 points (9g, 5a), while Jake Stasko is third with 13 points (5g, 3a).

* Jeff Kusiciel has logged the majority of minutes in goal for the Flames. Kusiciel has played nearly 1400 minutes and chalked up a 10-4 record with a 1.60 GAA and two shutouts.

Panther Injuries

Starting defenders Chad Dombrowski and Evan Richardson both suffered severe ankle injuries against Wisconsin, but Dombrowski returned to the lineup without missing a game. Richardson finally returned to action against Butler for the final minutes of play. After going down with a knee injury against Green Bay, Antou Jallow has since been out of the lineup and out of training. He has a tear in his MCL and will most likely miss the rest of the season. Freshman Ian Hoelker has started in place of Richardson, while Kevin Roethe started for Jallow in the center midfield and scored gamewinning goals against Loyola and Northern Illinois.

Scoring First Leads To Wins

* A growing trend with the 2001 Panthers is scoring first. Thirteen of Milwaukee's 18 games have seen the Panthers take the initial lead, and UWM has won every one of those games. UWM has won two games after failing to score first this season, including Sunday's match with Butler. UWM's three losses on the season have come when the Panthers failed to score first. Southwest Missouri State beat UWM, 2-1, Bowling Green scored the golden goal in overtime to knock off the Panthers, 1-0, and Akron used a penalty kick with 22 seconds left to defeat Milwaukee, 3-2.

Moving Up In Records Book

After recording three straight shutouts and his fifth of the season against Northern Illinois, junior goalkeeper Chris Dadaian ranks ninth in career shutouts with 12 and ranks fifth in career wins with 24. His senior year still remaining, Dadaian needs just seven more shutouts to tie the career record of 19 shutouts held by PJ Johns. Paul Royal holds the career record in wins with 40.

Dadaian's record so far this season rests at 11-2, putting him in a three-way tie for seventh place on UWM's single-season win leaderboard. Dadaian is tied with Paul Royal's 1994 and John Fetzer's 1975 win totals. Jon Mroz holds the record with 15 wins in 1990.

Sweeping The State

UWM stands at top of the Wisconsin universities after posting wins over Marquette (2-1), Wisconsin (3-1) and Green Bay (2-1 OT) this season. The last time the Panthers swept all three state opponents was in 1991 under former head coach Brian Tompkins. The Panthers then defeated Green Bay, 3-1, Wisconsin, 2-0, and Marquette, 2-1, in overtime.

Possessing All Three Cups

UWM has a tradition of playing annual cup games during the season. Milwaukee currently has possession of the Milwaukee Cup, won 2-1 against city-rival Marquette, and also the Chancellor's Cup with a 2-1 win against state-rival Green Bay. Milwaukee captured its final cup when it hosted Northern Illinois for the John Lewang Memorial Cup on Nov. 17 and won 3-0. The last time UWM retained all three trophies was in 1996 with scores of 2-1 against Green Bay, 2-1 against Marquette and 1-0 against Northern Illinois.

Heading Into The 2001 Season

* The Panthers were picked to finish second in the Horizon League in a preseason poll of the league coaches.

* Milwaukee returns nine starters to the 2001 squad, including leading scorer and all-league second team selection Ryan Seymour and all-newcomer team selections Tighe Dombrowski and Kyle Lance.

* UWM coach Louis Bennett led his team to the league tournament semifinals last year and finished the season at 11-9-1. The Panthers ended the regular season tied for third in the conference.

Head Coach Louis Bennett

Louis Bennett, a native of Great Britain, is in his sixth season at the helm of the Panthers. After the roadtrip to Ohio this past weekend, he posts a 70-44-7 record overall at UWM, including a 28-9-5 record in league play.

* Bennett was named MCC Coach of the Year in 1997 after leading the Panthers to the regular season conference crown and to the tournament championship game.