Nov. 12, 2001

MILWAUKEE -- The No. 15 UWM men's soccer team (17-3) hosts the Horizon League Tournament semifinals and championship Nov. 16-17 at Engelmann Field. The top-seeded Panthers play fourth-seeded Wright State (12-6-1) on Friday at 1 p.m., while second-seeded Butler (9-8) plays third-seeded UIC (11-5-1) in the other semifinal game at 11 a.m. The championship match is set for noon on Saturday at Engelmann Field.

Tickets for all tournament games can be purchased at the door and cost $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and all students with a valid ID and $1 for children under 12 years of age. For more information, please call the UWM Ticket Office at (414) 229-2465.

The Panthers advance to the semifinal and host the remainder of the tournament after beating eighth-seeded Cleveland State, 3-2, on Saturday. Wright State enters the game after beating fifth-seeded Green Bay, 5-1, at home.

Butler comes into the other semifinal game against UIC after a close 3-2 win over seventh-seeded Detroit in Indianapolis. UIC scored two late goals to take the 3-1 win over sixth-seeded Loyola at home.

Undefeated in the Horizon League this season, UWM beat Wright State, 3-2, in their previous match up on Oct. 26 in Dayton. Milwaukee is 6-3-2 all-time against the Raiders and haven't been beaten since 1999, when Wright State defeated UWM, 2-1, in overtime in the league tournament.

UWM Recap

The Panthers held on to the 3-2 win over bottom-seeded Cleveland State Saturday at home in a quarterfinal match. B.J. Blake led UWM with a goal scored in each half and assisted on Chad Dombrowski's goal in the first half.

CSU tied up the game, 1-1, in the 28th minute before Dombrowski's goal a minute later that gave UWM the lead into halftime. Blake scored in the 51st minute to take the two-goal lead before CSU's goal a minute later to cut it to one for the remainder of the game. UWM outshot the Vikings, 17-7.

UWM (17-3) Game Notes

* The Panthers moved up one spot in the national rankings after their quarterfinal win on Saturday. UWM is now No. 15 in the nation, up from last week's No. 16 slot. Milwaukee is still ranked No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region behind Indiana.

* Senior forward Ryan Seymour was named the 2001 Horizon League Player of the Year and Louis Bennett was named Coach of the Year. All-League First Team members from UWM include junior defender Chad Dombrowski, sophomore midfielder Tighe Dombrowski, junior goalkeeper Chris Dadaian and Seymour. Sophomore forward Kyle Lance and freshman defender Khaled El-Ahmad were named to the All-League Second Team, while El-Ahmad, freshman defender Trent Furtsch and freshman midfielder Antou Jallow were named to the All-Newcomer Team.

* Seymour ended the regular season as the Horizon League leader in points, shots, gamewinning goals and second in goals. Kyle Lance leads the league in assists, and is second on team scoring with 22 points (5g, 12a). Defender Chad Dombrowski (7g, 5a) is third on the team with 19 points, while Antou Jallow (8g) is fourth. Jallow, who has missed the past eight games after a knee injury on Oct. 9, still ranks sixth in the league in goals and is second in gamewinning goals (3) behind Seymour.

* UWM leads the league in most major team statistical categories, including shots, points, goals, goals allowed and shutouts, and is tied for the lead in assists.

Recent Trends

Though the Panthers are enjoying the most successful season in program history, the team has recently given up a lot more goals then it had in the beginning of the season. UWM has not shut out a team since the 1-0 win over Cleveland State on Oct. 21, and has outscored its opponents, 15-11, in the past six games. The Panthers started the first six games of the season with four shutouts while outscoring their opponents, 18-3.

Head Coach Louis Bennett

Louis Bennett, a native of Great Britain, is in his sixth season at the helm of the Panthers. After the win over Cleveland State this past weekend, he posts a 72-44-7 record overall at UWM, including a 29-9-5 record in league play.

Bennett was named Horizon League Coach of the Year for the second time in his career, also grabbing the honors in 1997 after leading the Panthers to the regular-season crown and to the tournament championship game.

#4 Wright State Game Notes

* Travis Sobers tallied a hat trick and Ricky Strong added two goals and two assists in the Raiders' romping of Green Bay in its quarterfinal. WSU took the 2-0 lead at the half and added two more before the Phoenix got on the board in the 80th minute to trail, 4-1. Sobers put in Wright State's final goal seven minutes later. Wright State outshot UWGB, 21-9. Each team committed 14 fouls, while six yellow cards were issued, including four to Wright State.

* Ricky Strong leads Wright State in scoring with 27 points (12g, 3a), while Travis Sobers is second with 17 points (7g, 3a).

* Goalkeeper J.R. Nelson has a 1.38 GAA in 14 games heading into the semifinal. Collecting the quarterfinal win, he posts an 8-5-1 record on the season including four shutouts. Chris Schiavone has a 4-1 record in seven games, posting a 1.59 GAA.

* Junior midfielder Bret Jones and senior midfielder Travis Sobers were named to the All-League First Team for Wright State, while senior defender Brian James and sophomore forward Ricky Strong were named to the All-League Second Team. Freshman defender Winston Marshall was named to the All-Newcomer Team.

#2 Butler Game Notes

* Down 1-0 in the quarterfinal against Detroit, Michael Mariscalco scored a penalty kick late in the first half for Butler to equalize. Andrew Pancio added the go-ahead goal int he 69th minute, but Detroit tied it 10 minutes later. Nick Pantazi came through for Butler in the 88th minute to take the win. Detroit outshot Butler, 17-13, while eight yellow cards were issued, including two for BU.

* Nick Pantazi leads the Bulldogs with 39 points (17g, 5a), while Michael Mariscalco follows with 30 points (10g, 10a). Both were named to the All-League First Team.

* Goalkeeper Grant Barrie has seen the most time, playing 13 games and recording a 1.80 GAA. He has a 5-7 record, including three shutouts. Barrie recorded eight saves against Detroit. He was named to the All-League Second Team, along with junior defender Tony Beer.

* Junior defender Blaise Hilgenbrinck was named to the All-Newcomer team for Butler.

#3 UIC Game Notes

* UIC is receiving votes into the national rankings after posting a 3-1 win over Loyola on Saturday. After a scoreless first half, Jay DeMerit scored in the 68th minute to tie the Ramblers. Dennis King scored the gamewinner in the 79th minute and Joe Morelli added the insurance goal three minutes later.

* The Flames are led by Dennis King's 27 points (10g, 7a), followed by freshman Patrick Grange's 24 points (9g, 6a).

* Goalkeeper Jeff Kusicicl has a 1.69 GAA in 16 games, posting a 10-5-1 record with two shutouts. Backup Casey Pudwill has a 1-0 record in four games and a 1.47 GAA.

* Senior defender Jay DeMerit and junior midfielder Bruno Rasich were named to the All-League First Team, while junior defender Joe Morelli was named to the second team. Defender Patrick Grange was named to the All-Newcomer Team.

Moving Up In Records Book

With five shutouts on the season, junior goalkeeper Chris Dadaian ranks ninth in career shutouts with 12 and also ranks fifth in career wins with 26. 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 13-2, putting him in a four-way tie for second place on UWM's single-season win leaderboard. Jon Mroz holds the record with 15 wins from 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.