Panthers Face Top-Ranked UC Santa BarbaraNov. 23, 2004 SANTA BARBARA - Complete Release in PDF Format
California Dreamin Once Again The Road to the Final Four in Los Angeles, California, has continued in California for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team. The Panthers defeated the University of San Francisco in San Francisco 3-2 on Saturday (Nov. 20) to advance to the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Panthers second round contest will take place about six hours south of San Fran in Santa Barbara, versus the nation's top-ranked team, the University of California-Santa Barbara. The game is set for 9:00 p.m. Central Time at Harder Stadium on the UCSB campus. The game can be heard live on KCSB 91.5 FM and on the KCSB website at www.kcsb.org. Panthers Win Thriller In San Fran This is what NCAA Tournament games are supposed to be about. A large crowd. Quality soccer. High drama. Fortunately for the UWM men's soccer team all of the above occured in addition to a thrilling 3-2 victory over No. 20 San Francisco in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The Panthers, who never trailed in the game, grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a Chris Brisson goal just five minutes in. USF tied the game midway through the second half only to see an Antou Jallow marker push it to 2-1. The Dons continued to battle and tied the game at two just minutes later. However, reserve forward Steve Sperl snuck home a shot under the legs of the USF keeper for the game-winning goal in the 87th minute. The Panthers were the first team to score three or more goals in regulation against USF since Sept. 4. Milwaukee Makes It Four In A Row The UWM men's soccer team is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament which is good for the longest consecutive NCAA streak in both school and Horizon League history. Thanks to Saturday's win over USF, UWM will now be making its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Second Round, also tops in school history. The Panthers are 3-2 in their last three NCAA Tournament berths and have won each of their last three first round games. The 2004 season notes the program's seventh NCAA Tournament appearance overall, also tops among all league schools. A Little More On Cali While Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting betwen UWM and UCSB, the Panthers have had success versus California based teams. Milwaukee is 8-2 all-time versus teams from Cali after the 3-2 victory over San Francisco on Saturday. Meanwhile, UWM is now 2-2 all-time in the state of California, with victories over USF on Saturday and St. Mary's in 1990 while dropping gamest at St. Mary's in 1990 and versus California in 1990. Tuesday will also mark the Panthers first-ever meeting versus a Big West Conference school. The Horizon Road Runs Through Milwaukee Yes, all eight teams in the Horizon League are eligible to win championships. No, no one else has accomplished the feat in the last four years. Such is the life for the UWM men's soccer team. Thanks to a 6-1 regular season record and a 3-0 mark in the league tournament the Panthers claimed their fourth straight regular season league title and third consecutive tournament championship. In fact, when looking at the numbers in-depth, the league domination is even more astounding. In the past four years UWM owns a 26-1-1 regular season record versus league foes and a 37-2-1 record including the postseason tournament. The only blemishes on the record, a 2001 loss to Butler in the Horizon League Championship match, a 2-2 tie versus UIC in 2003 and a 1-0 loss at UIC this season. Winning Continues Into The Postseason Success for the UWM men's soccer team has not been relegated to just regular season games. In the 32-year history of the program, Milwaukee owns a 22-13-1 all-time record in postseason games. The Panthers are 3-6-0 in NCAA Tournament play but 19-7-1 in conference tournament action. There has been even more success of late as UWM boasts a 12-2 record in postseason contests in the last three years. Milwaukee is 9-0 in its last nine Horizon League tournament contests and 3-2 in its last five NCAA games. Best Class In History There is no questioning it now. The current group of seniors on the UWM men's soccer team will go down as the winningest and most decorated class in program history. The group of eight seniors, which consists of Chris Brisson, Adam Gehrt, Khaled El-Ahmad, Antou Jallow, Trent Furtsch, Cliff Ellsworth, Ian Hoelker and Kirk Thode, is the only class to advance to the NCAA Tournament during all four years of its eligibility. Furthermore, the group owns a 67-17-5 record during the stretch, good for the most wins and best winning percentage of any class in school history. As Antou Goes, So Go The Panthers To say senior forward Antou Jallow is important to the UWM offensive attack is a bit of an understatement. The Uppsala, Sweden native currently leads the team in goals, points, shots, shots on goal, and game-winning goals. However, after taking a closer look Jallow's production is noticeably obvious. The stirker has scored his 17 goals in 11 games this season with five multiple-goal games. Following Saturday's tilt, UWM is now 10-0-1 this season when Jallow scores at least one point in a game and 4-4-2 when he does not mark the stat sheet. Panthers Go Streaking The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team certainly picked the right time to peak. The Panthers, who sat at 3-4-3 after a 1-0 loss at UIC on October 10, have won 11 consecutive games, the third-longest streak in school history and longest current streak among all DI men's soccer teams. The 2002 UWM squad won a school-record 19 consecutive wins before falling to Creighton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament while the 1985 Bob Gansler- coached squad started the season 12-0. UWM Gets Offensive What happened to the supposed goal-scoring struggles of the early season that plagued the Panthers? Well, its become abundantly clear that those days are a thing of the past. The Panthers have now scored 45 goals on the season and 2.14 goals per game, good for 23rd nationally. During the current 11-game winning streak Milwaukee has scored 33 markers, which includes two, five-goal games and one four-goal contest. Furthermore, the defense has been solid as well, allowing seven goals during the eleven game stretch while improving its season goals against average to 0.92, good for 25th nationally. Panther Players Among The Elite The 2004 UWM offensive and defensive units aren't the only ones garnering national attention for their statistics. According to the most recent NCAA statistics released on Tuesday (Nov. 16), three different Panthers rank among the top 15 nationally in different statistical categories. Sophomore forward Dale Weiler ranks 3rd with 15 assists and 0.68 assists per game while Antou Jallow sits 10th and 12th, respectively, with 0.80 goals and 1.86 points per game. Weiler's 15 assists in a season are good for a second-place tie with Tony Sanneh and Jeff Rohrman on UWM's single season list while Jallow's 17 goals and 39 points are enough for fourth and sixth-best in school history. Antou Honored Once Again It certainly didn't come as a major surprise but UWM's Antou Jallow was named the 2004 Horizon League Player of the Year in a release last week. The senior forward currently leads the league in goals (17) and points (39) while also leading in points and goals in league-only games. Jallow joined Eric Lukin of UIC (1999-2000) as the only two-time Player of the Year winners. Furthermore, Jallow became just one of 11 players all-time to earn first-team all-league honors three straight seasons. Jallow was UWM's only first-team member while senior Trent Furtsch and sophomore Dale Weiler each were named to the second-team. The Louis Bennett Award No, there is no truth to the rumor that the Horizon League is renaming the Horizon League Coach of the Year Award for UWM head man Louis Bennett. Bennett, who won the award in 2001, 2002 and 2003, was named the league coach of the year again this season, giving him four consecutive awards. Bennett became the first coach in Horizon League history to win the award in four straight seasons. In addition, Bennett has won the award five times in nine seasons, which is the best all-time among Horizon League coaches. From Sweden To The Record Books When Antou Jallow came to Milwaukee from Uppsula, Sweden, four years ago UWM head coach Louis Bennett knew he was getting a solid player with the capability of scoring some goals. However, if anyone thought that the striker would own nearly every goal-scoring record possible then they would be pulling your leg. Jallow, who has 59 career goals, 13 assists, and 31 career points, now owns UWM's career, single-season (24 in 2002), and single-game (4 in 2002) record for goals while also holding the all-time Horizon League goals scored mark along with the tournament goals record (4 in 2004). Jallow sits second in school-history with the 131 points, trailing only Tony Sanneh's (1990-93) 138 points. All In The Family Yes, the official nickname of the UWM men's soccer team is "Panthers". However, most people would probably understand if the name were changed to the "Dombrowskis". Two Dombrowski brothers currently play on the 2004 UWM squad and follow in line of three of their older brothers as UWM men's soccer players. Scott (1997-00) was the first to come to campus from nearby West Allis, followed by Chad (1999-2002), Tighe (2000-2003), Neil (2002-current) and then Zeke (2004-current). Chad tops the Dombrowski scoring list with 61 points on 24 goals and 13 assists follwed by Tighe's 45 points (16g, 13a). Neil, a junior is third with 31 points (9g, 12a) while Scott tallied 17 on seven goals and three helpers. Lastly, Zeke, a starting defender, has two assists in his freshman campaign. Panthers In The Majors
The UWM men's soccer program is rich in both recent and historical tradition. In addition to the four consecutive NCAA appearances and Horizon League championships, the program has also been home to numerous national-level superstars. Tony Sanneh, who played at UWM from 1990-93, currently plays for the Columbus Crew of the MLS after playing a major role in the 2002 U.S. World Cup run. Furthermore, 1991 alum Manny Lagos joins Sanneh with the Columbus Crew while 2003 grad Tighe Dombrowski plays with the San Jose Earthquakes.
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