UWM Looks For Fourth Straight TitleComplete Release in PDF Format
Oct. 21, 2003 MILWAUKEE - Gone and Then Home Again While the turnaround will be quick, the weekend could be a memorable one for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team. UWM will hit the road for the week's first contest, a Friday night game at Big Ten Conference opponent, Iowa. The Panthers will then turn right around and head back to Engelmann Field for a Sunday noon contest in the regular season Horizon League finale versus Youngstown State. Streak Ends In UW-Green Bay To say Phoenix Field in Green Bay has been a trouble spot for the UWM women's soccer program would be an understatement. Four seasons after their last Horizon League loss, a 1-0 defeat at Phoenix Field, UW-Green Bay bit the Panthers once again, this time scratching out a 2-1 overtime victory on Friday. UWM outshot the hosts and controlled much of the game, but the improved Phoenix scored a "golden-goal" for their first series win in four seasons. The victory snapped UWM's league unbeaten streak at 21 games. Panthers Look For Four In a Row Sunday could be the day for the University of Wisconsin-MIlwaukee women's soccer team. With their sights set on a fourth straight Horizon League regular season title the Panthers need just one thing: a win. If UWM can defeat Youngstown State Sunday at Engelmann Field, it can lay claim on not only sole possession of the league title, but the all-important first round bye in the postseason league tournament. The title would be the fifth in the seven-year tenure of head coach Michael Moynihan. Making Sense of A Jumbled Mess While things sit pretty clearly at the top and bottom, the middle of the Horizon League pack could easily be called a jumbled mess. The current league standings look like this: UWM is alone in first place with a 4-1 record. Youngstown State is alone in last at 0-3. Loyola sits next to last at 1-4. However, its spots two through five where it gets tricky. Currently, three teams (Detroit, Butler and UW-Green Bay) are tied for second at 3-2. UWGB plays host to YSU on Friday while Detroit and Butler play an important game on Sunday. Sitting in fifth, and just a 1/2 game out of second, is Wright State, who finished the league schedule with a 3-3 mark. From the Horizon League to the Big Ten No, the UWM women's soccer team did not become a member of the Big Ten Conference. However, if you were to make udgement on the squads final two weeks of the season you might be confused. Starting with Friday's contest at Iowa, UWM will play three of its last four games versus Big 10 schools. The Panthers will head to in-state rival Wisconsin on Wednesday (Oct. 29) before finishing the regular season at home versus Northwestern next Sunday (Nov. 1). Milwaukee is 10-37-8 all-tim versus the league. Way To Help The RPI No one can accuse UWM head women's soccer coach Michael Moynihan of seeking out easy wins. Before the season started, it appeared as if the seven-year head man had put together one of the nation's toughest schedules. Well, looking back on it now, the assumption was right on. Here is a quick look at how a few of UWM's non-conference opponents have fared: UCLA: No. 3 in the nation, enough said. Oakland: 11-3-1, nine game winning streak and No. 5 in the region. Illinois State: 8-4-2 and undefeated in the Missouri Valley. Dayton: No. 6 in the region, 9-5-1 overall. Loyola Marymount: 7-4-3 overall and No. 20 in the country. Marquette: 9-6-1, 2nd in Conference USA. Shauno Wreaks Havoc On Phoenix Defense While the team end result may not have been to her liking, UWM senior forward Erin Shaughnessy may have enjoyed her best game as a collegian on Friday. The 5-4 forward not only scored UWM's only goal of the game, but she led all players in shots (six), and shots on goal (five). "Shauno" narrowly missed scoring three other times as it took acrobatic saves from the UWGB keeper to hold No. 4 to the one goal. Panthers Team Up In Between The Pipes
With much of the emphasis on the play of the UWM offense during the team's 6-2 stretch, it can be easy to forget just how solid UWM's goal-keeping duo of Kerri St. Aubin and Molly Schneider has been. Since the first win of the season, a 1-0 blanking of Butler on Sept. 21, the UWM goalkeeping tandem has allowed just nine goals in the last eight games, good for a 1.02 goals against average. St. Aubin, who has played 425:32 minutes, has allowed just four goals to go with fourteen saves while Schneider has allowed five tallies with ten saves in her 320:11 minutes.
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