#8 Panther Men Set To Play Host To Horizon League TournamentComplete Release in PDF Format
Nov. 4, 2002 MILWAUKEE - #8 Panthers Prepare To Host League Tournament Its Deja Vu all over again for the #8 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team. One season after winning the Horizon League regular season and hosting all three rounds of the league postseason tournament, the Panthers are set to do it all again a year later thanks to a 15-1-1 overall record and 7-0-0 league finish. UWM will begin postseason play on Saturday (Nov. 9) as the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. The Ramblers of Loyola will come to town for the quarterfinal game as the No. 8 seed in the tourney. If UWM defeats Loyola, it will host the tournament semifinals and finals to be held Friday (Nov. 15) and Sunday (Nov. 17). All games will be played at Engelmann Field on the UWM campus. The Louis Bennett File Heading the UWM men's soccer program for the seventh season as head mentor and tenth in the program is head coach Louis Bennett. A veteran of the United States professional ranks, Bennett boasts a career 88-47-8 record in seven-plus seasons, including last season's 18-5-0 campaign. The 18 victories mark the most ever in school-history as Bennett garnered Horizon League and Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year honors. Under Bennett's watch, UWM has won two conference titles while advancing to the NCAA Tournament once. Bennett is assisted on the sidelines by six-year aide Stan Anderson and first-year man Jon Coleman. Anderson has been Bennett's assistant since he took the job while Coleman, a former Panther, has spent time volunteering with the program. Some Changes Are Good While the UWM men's soccer team certainly likes the replay of 2001 to this point, it is certainly hoping history stops repeating itself in the very near future. The Panthers advanced to the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament in 2001, only to fall to Butler in the title game, 2-0. UWM then received an "at-large" bid to the NCAA Tournament, only to fall to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2-1, in overtime of the first round. Panthers In The Tournament This weekend will mark the ninth consecutive year UWM has participated in the Horizon League/Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament, as the league postseason tournament has been held every year beginning in 1994. Milwaukee is 9-8 all-time in the tourney, but has never taken home the big prize. UWM has played in the championship game three times, falling 3-2 to Notre Dame in 1994, 1-0 to Butler in 1997, and 2-0 to BU last season at Engelmann Field. The Panthers have played four Horizon League Tournament games at home and boast a 3-1 record in those contests. Movin' On Up, And Up, And Up With each passing week, the 2002 UWM men's soccer team sets a new standard in the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 Men's Soccer Poll. Thanks to a 1-0 week, Milwaukee jumped one spot to No. 8 in the weekly Top 25, marking the highest national showing in any poll in school history. Of the seven schools ahead of Milwaukee, there are two ACC programs (#1 Wake Forest and #7 Virginia), two Big East powers (#2 St. John's and #6 UConn), a Big Ten school (#3 Indiana), a Pac-10 member (#5 UCLA) and Missouri Valley Conference- representative SMU, who sits at No. 4. Panthers Hold Steady In The Region The Panthers appear to be in a holding pattern and circling the runway on the top spot in the NSCAA/Great Lakes Region Poll. For the third consecutive week, UWM holds the No. 2 spot in the region behind 14-2-2 Indiana. Of the Panther's 15 victories, three have come against regionally ranked foes with #7 Akron, #9 Marquette, and #10 Wisconsin also cracking the region's Top 10. Win Streak Best In The Land With the College of Charleston playing to a draw with Coastal Carolina on Sunday, the Milwaukee men's soccer team now has sole possession of the longest winning streak in the nation. Since tying #4 SMU on Labor Day, UWM has ran off 15 consecutive victories. During that time, the Panthers have outscored the opposition 53-7 and have been scored on more than once in just one game, a 4-2 win at Illinois-Chicago on Oct. 2. Dadaian Named League's Best With the offense barrage laid on opponents by UWM in 2002, the play of senior goalkeeper Chris Dadaian has gone virtually unnoticed for much of the season. Until now that is. The senior netminder was named the Brine/Horizon League Player of the Week for his efforts in UWM's 2-0 victory over Butler on Friday. The honor appears to be a season-long acheivement award for Dadaian, who has now played 576 scoreless minutes, a span of six plus games. No.1 is currently second in the nation with a 0.33 goals against average and his 21 career shutouts rank first in UWM school-history. Antou One Away In a season of record-breaking performances, striker Antou Jallow is one goal away from owning what is probably the most prestigious single-season honor. With his next goal, Jallow will reach the 20-goal plateau in 2002. Furthermore, the Swedish-sophomore will stand alone atop the UWM single-season goals scored list. Jallow, who currently sits at 19 goals, is tied with Milan Stojsavljevic who also tallied 19 markers in 1977. Dombrowski's In The Mix While the Dombrowski brothers may only make up 10 percent of the UWM men's soccer roster, the trio represents 20 percent of the Panthers scoring in 2002. Of the 165 points registered this season, 43 have been scored by a Dombrowski. Senior Chad leads the way with 18 points while freshman Neil has tallied 11 points with junior Tighe contributing eight points. Furthermore, a Dombrowski has registered at least one point in 14 of UWM's 17 contests. Defenders Get Involved Not only have UWM defenders Trent Furtsch and Khaled El-Ahmad helped keep opposing offenses from scoring, the duo have also been a huge part of the Panther offensive attack. Furtsch and El-Ahmad, both shoo-ins for 2002 All-League honors, contributed offensively in UWM's 2-0 regular season-ending victory over Butler on Friday. El-Ahmad registered his first assist of the season when he set up the first goal of the game before Furtsch notched his second assist on the season when his spectacular passing led to a goal by Antou Jallow.
On The Record With Louis Bennett
UWM men's soccer coach Louis Bennett on winning the league title:
"It was one of the original goals we had spoken about at the beginning of the season, so it's nice to get it done. This was part one of a three part goal for our season. If you look at our league record, you can see we've been difficult to beat, especially at home. I'm very happy for all of our players, coaches, and everyone involved with the program."
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