Senior Janice McGann
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UWM Heads To Green Bay For League Tourney
Top-Seeded Panthers to take on No. 8 Cleveland State Thursday
Game 18 • Horizon League Tournament • Quarterfinals
No. 8 Cleveland State (0-17-1) vs. No. 1 Milwaukee (10-4-3)
Thursday, Nov. 3 • 11 a.m. • Aldo Santaga Field
All-Time Series: UWM leads 3-0
Last Meeting: at UWM 3, CSU 0 (9/30/05)
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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Nov. 1, 2005) - The top-seeded University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team opens its 2005 Horizon League Tournament run Thursday Nov. 3 in Green Bay, Wis., taking on eighth-seeded Cleveland State at 11 a.m., in the league quarterfinals at Aldo Santaga Stadium. If the Panthers win, they will advance to the semifinals, where they will await the winner of No. 4 Wright State and No. 5 Butler. UWM and CSU have met three times over the two seasons, including the 2004 league quarterfinals, as well. Milwaukee holds the 3-0 series advantage, last winning 3-0 Sept. 30 at Engelmann Field.
Scouting--Cleveland State
The eighth-seeded Cleveland State Vikings finished the regular season with an 0-17-1 record, but on a rather high note after Sunday's scoreless draw with Youngstown State. The tie was the first tie and shutout in the 38-match history of the CSU program, and ended a 37-game losing streak in the program's history. Ashley Spahn continues to lead a much-improved Viking team in scoring, scoring six points on three goals this season. Three more players have tallied five points, while Jennifer Wieand and Lisa Conway pace the team with three assists apiece. Erin Withrow has started all 18 games for Cleveland, collecting the shutout Sunday and posting a 3.41 goals against average.
Sept. 30, Milwaukee played dominating soccer for 90 minutes in defeating CSU 3-0. Three different Panthers scored as they outshot the Vikings, 33-3. Last season, UWM also picked up a pair of wins, 1-0 in Cleveland during the regular season and 4-1 in the league tournament quarterfinals. The Panthers are the only team the Vikings have faced more than twice, and will be playing the fourth game in the two-year series Thursday.
Weekend In Review
Sophomore Amanda Winn scored the game's only goal in the 14th minute and freshman Erin Kane posted her school-record ninth shutout of the season to lead the Panthers to a 1-0 win over Colorado College Friday afternoon at Engelmann Field. Winn's score came unassisted on a shot from 30 yards out, while Kane needed to make just one save for the clean slate.
A Look At The League
Seeds for this week's Horizon League Tournament remained up in the air until the 110th minute of Sunday's match between Cleveland State and Youngstown State. With the 0-0 tie, YSU clinched the seventh seed for the tournament, while CSU finished eighth. Detroit topped the Penguins Friday to leap-frog UW-Green Bay for the second seed by one point, while Wright State locked up No. 4 with a 5-0 win over the Vikings. Butler finished tied with Loyola for fifth, but defeated the Ramblers in the regular season for the tie-breaker.
Horizon League Tournament History
Milwaukee heads into this week sporting a 13-6-4 record all-time in the Horizon League Tournament, with three championships. The team is also playing a quarterfinal match for just the second time since 1999, with Cleveland State's addition to the league bringing the field to eight teams in 2004. The Panthers boast a 5-0-1 record in the first round. The tournament is in Green Bay for just the second time ever, while UWM found success the first time around. In 1995, Milwaukee defeated Wright State, 3-2, and Butler, 6-2, before falling in the league championship game to Detroit. Lisa Krzykowski was named the tournament MVP, the first of three UWM players to earn the honor (Erin Blaedow - 2001, Lisa Bengtsson - 2002).
2004 Horizon League Tournament Revisited
Last season, the Panthers advanced to the Horizon League Championship game for the seventh time in school history, falling to Detroit, 1-0. To get to the title game, UWM defeated Cleveland State, 4-1, in the quarterfinals before battling to a scoreless draw with Loyola in the semifinals. In a penalty kick shootout, all five Milwaukee players converted PKs, including four freshman, as the Panthers advanced 5-4. In the title game, UWM outshot the Titans, 22-6, but could not get the equalizer.
Streaking
Since falling at #15 Wisconsin, 4-0, the Panthers have seen both their offense and defense click to the tune of a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1). Milwaukee has outscored its opponents 19-3 in that time while posting six shutouts. The offense has generated 173 shot attempts (19.2/game), forced 64 corner kicks (7.1/g) and tallied 23 assists. On the flip side, the UWM defense has limited opponents to just 60 shots (6.7/g), 14 corners (1.6/g) and one assist. Senior Katie Campion (4g, 1a), freshman Sarah Teegarden (3g, 1a) and sophomore Amanda Winn (2g, 4a) have been the prime offensive catalysts, while senior Janice McGann, sophomore Ginny Graczyk and Winn have started all nine games to bolster the defense. Four more players have started at the remaining outside defender's position, while freshman Erin Kane has been in goal for the last eight matches.
Regional Recognition
Milwaukee has been getting its fair share of recognition in its region, earning rankings from both the NSCAA and Soccer Buzz. In the NSCAA Great Lakes Regional Poll, UWM checked in at No. 8, after entering the poll at No. 9 Oct. 18. Soccer Buzz has had the Panthers ranked sporadically throughout the year, with Milwaukee sitting at No. 8 this week, moving up two spaces. The No. 8 ranking from Soccer Buzz is Milwaukee's highest from the publication since 1998.
Home, Sweet, Home
With a 1-0 win Friday, the Panthers finished their home schedule with a 6-0-3 record and unbeaten at home for the first time since 1997 (7-0-1). At Engelmann Field, UWM has been flat-out dominant, posting a 0.31 goals against average, while averaging two goals per game. Visitors have come onto campus and have been outshot almost 2-to-1 and have yielded four more corner kicks per match. Freshman Erin Kane and the Panther defense have also posted a save percentage of .903, while the office has been scoring on almost 30 percent of their shots on target. The slate also extended their home league unbeaten streak to 23 games (21-0-1). UWM has not lost a home league game since back-to-losses in 1998, the only two home league losses under Moynihan, who is now 24-2-1 (.907) at home in league play. Overall, the Panthers are 31-4-1 (.875) at home in league action and 36-7-3 (.815) at home against current league opponents.
No `I' In Team
To say Milwaukee's scoring has been spread out, may be quite the understatement. This season, 11 Panthers have scored goals, while 20 different players have scored points. In fact, just two players have played more than two games and not recorded a point. At the top of the scoring list is two players with double-digit points and two more at eight points apiece. At least 10 players have scored goals each year under head coach Michael Moynihan, whilethis year's team is one player shy of becoming his sixth squad with 12-or-more goal scorers. Fourteen players scored goals last season and 16 players have tallied goals twice (1997, 1999).
A "Winn-Winn" Situation
Sophomore Amanda Winn scored the game-winner in Friday's match with Colorado College and has now scored points in each of the last five matches. After scoring the equalizer against Wright State, she tallied a pair of assists against Youngstown State, then assisted on the game-winning goals against Detroit and Loyola. Over the last five games, she has eight points on two goals and four assists, representing all of her scoring this season.
Citizen Kane
Freshman Erin Kane became the first freshman to start a season-opener in goal since Kathy Hoverman in 1995 and has been etching her name in the record books ever since. She picked up the shutout Friday against Colorado College for her school-record ninth of the season. Her total has surpassed Liz Ulicki (1998) and Kathy Hoverman's (1997) previous mark of eight and is currently tied for second in league history (11) and more than double UWM's previous freshman record (4). In addition to leading the league in shutouts and goals against average (0.71), she has also set school freshman marks for starts, minutes, wins and should finish with the GAA mark. Kane has also seen her efforts rewarded, being named Horizon League Player of the Week a league-high three times.
Welcome Back
Senior Elizabeth Chudy, who suffered a knee injury in the preseason, made her debut in a starting role against Colorado College last Friday. Expected to miss the season, Chudy feverishly worked her way back and started at outside defender on Senior Day, logging just under 20 minutes of action. Meanwhile, senior Kitty Montgomery missed Friday's contest after suffering a knee injury against Loyola Oct. 21. She is listed as day-to-day and is looking to return to practice this week.
Getting The Job Done
UWM has lost just once in 101 matches all-time when scoring three or more goals. It has also gone 54-2-3 since September of 1999 when scoring two or more goals, including 13-straight wins. What's most impressive, however, is that the Panthers are now unbeaten in 21-straight matches (20-0-1) when scoring at least ONE goal. Included in that streak is a 10-0-1 mark this season, and 10-straight wins to end 2004. Milwaukee has hung strong in close games, posting seven 1-0 wins in that time.
We Are The Champions
The Oct. 21 win over Loyola gave the Panthers' their sixth-straight outright Horizon League Regular Season Championship. Milwaukee had already clinched the No. 1 seed a week prior. The Panthers have posted a 34-1-2 record in winning the last six regular season titles, while the team has won seven titles overall (1997). Notre Dame is the only other school in league history to win four-straight titles, much less four crowns overall. The Irish topped the standings from 1991-95. Butler is the only other league school to win more than one crown (two, 1995-96).
Hitting The Century Mark
Head coach Michael Moynihan picked up his 100th win as the mentor of the Milwaukee women's soccer program against Loyola. In doing so, he joined elite company, as just three other soccer coaches have cracked the century mark in school history. Moynihan has been the program's winningest head coach since win No. 47, and now joins current men's head coach Louis Bennett, Dan Harris and Brian Tompkins, the only person to coach both the men's and women's sides, in the 100-win club. Bennett leads the way, surpassing 130 this season, while Harris capped his UWM career with 109. Tompkins won 11 games with the women before being hired as men's head coach and winning 90 more. Lastly, Moynihan's 101 wins entering the tournament represent 52 percent of the program's 194 all-time wins.
Putting In The Time
Senior Janice McGann and sophomore Ginny Graczyk continue to anchor a successful Panther defense, jobs they have had since their respective freshman seasons. In fact, McGann has started the Panthers' last 62 games dating back to 2002. She has missed just three games in her career, starting 76-of-77 matches played. With the exception of 2004, when she missed the year to a knee injury, Graczyk has played every minute of every game of her career. She started all 19 games on her way to League Newcomer of the Year honors in 2003 and has yet to leave the field through 17 games in 2005.
Loving League Play
Once again the Panthers finished up their league season in successful fashion as a team, and as has become the norm, a number of individuals have enjoyed success. In seven matches, the Milwaukee defense yielded just three goals, largely to the play of the back line consisting of seniors Janice McGann and Rebecca Englund, junior Val Cooper and sophomores Ginny Graczyk, Amanda Winn and Claire Pignet. Behind McGann, Graczyk and Winn, who started every game, the group yielded just over six shots per game, three goals and posted four shutouts. In six league starts, freshman Erin Kane posted a miniscule 0.32 GAA and posted the four shutouts in goal.
On the offensive side, senior Katie Campion and freshman Sarah Teegarden each scored three goals to led UWM in league scoring, while 10 players combined on the team's 17 goals. In addition to averaging over two goals a game, Milwaukee also launched an average of 21 shots on each opponent.
I Will Call You `Mini-Streak'
Two years removed from the end of its league-record 21-game unbeaten streak in league play, Milwaukee is back up to its old tricks. Since falling to UW-Green Bay, 2-1, in overtime in 2003, the Panthers have not lost a league match since, a span of 15-straight matches (14-0-1). UWM rebounded to defeat Youngstown State in the 2003 regular season finale before sweeping through a seven-game slate in 2004. Friday, Milwaukee completed its 2005 league slate with a 6-0-1 mark. Since 2000, the team is 34-1-2 (.946) in league games. The Panthers have always enjoyed their time in the league, boasting a 54-12-4 (.800) record all-time in league play. Under Michael Moynihan, the record jumps to 43-5-4 (.865).
Breaking Out
Milwaukee exploded for seven goals Oct. 14 against Youngstown State, its highest output since Nov. 2, 1997, when the Panthers defeated Loyola 8-1. In addition to being its largest shutout victory since a 16-0 rout of Western Illinois Sept. 5, 1999, it also marked the second-most assists in school history with nine. Only the match with WIU yielded more (13). Six different players scored in the match for UWM. The Panthers also posted their second game in which they outshot an opponent by at least 30 and forced 10 more corner kicks than their opponent. The 36 shots were the team's most since peppering DePaul with 40 shots Sept. 1, 1999.
Overtime? No Sweat
Panther fans are getting their fair share of free soccer, as UWM went into overtime for the fifth time this season Oct. 9 against Wright State. In each of the first four instances, Erin Kane held the opposition scoreless, while the match vs. Wright State was the first OT game for UWM this season to feature goals scored in regulation. The team's record moved to 2-0-3 this season when playing extra soccer. While the team has played at least six overtime matches in all but one season under Michael Moynihan, the stingy defense is finding unprecedented success. Prior to this season, there had been 16 instances where UWM held a team scoreless through regulation and extra time, including a high of three times in 1998. Through 17 games this season, Milwaukee has done it four times.
Freshman Firepower
UWM's freshman class was highly-touted coming into this season and the group has not disappointed. In the 7-0 rout of Youngstown State Oct. 14, freshmen combined for four goals, including the game-winner by Jodi Klagos, two by Sarah Teegarden and another by Bailey Briggs. So far this season, Teegarden paces the team in goals (5) and points (11), while tying for the lead in game-winning goals (2) and sitting third in shots (29). Meanwhile, Klagos is third with three goals, 10 points and a game-winner. Briggs has also chipped in a pair of goals, including a game-winner, and an assist. Also, the exploits of frosh keeper Erin Kane are well-known, Beth Steuer started the first eight games of the season before suffering an injury and Libby Shern has made a pair of appearances, adding depth to an experienced Panther back line.
In-Season Honors
Milwaukee has garnered its fair share of honors this season, earning five League Player of the Week honors in addition to having two players named to each of its in-season all-tournament teams. Freshman Erin Kane has now earned player of the week three times and was named to the Milwaukee Cup All-Tournament Team. Senior Katie Campion earned the honor Sept. 26, in addition ot being named to the Soccer Buzz National Elite Team of the Week a day later. Freshman Sarah Teegarden was the Player of the Week honoree (Oct. 17), joined Kane on the Milwaukee Cup team and was named to the team for the Big Toe Soccer Invitational with sophomore Ginny Graczyk.
Mapping Success
The Panthers were picked to win their sixth-straight Horizon League regular season championship in the league's preseason coaches' polls. UWM received 5-of-7 possible first place votes and had 45 points. The Panthers were also picked to finish first in each of the last five seasons. Detroit, which topped UWM in the league championship game last year, was picked second with 43 points and the remaining three first place votes. The eight league coaches are unable to vote for their own teams.
No Easy Road
As has become common with the Milwaukee women's soccer team, the Panthers have already faced a stiff non-conference schedule this season. In fact, all 10 non-league opponents finished last season with a winning record, while nine won 10-or-more games. Five teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season and four advanced to the second round. This season, all but two have earned a national ranking at some point, while three of the opponents are currently ranked in either the NSCAA, Soccer Buzz or Soccer America polls.
Celebrated Newcomers
The 2005 freshman class has received some attention in the off-season, earning a No. 7 ranking in the Great Lakes Region and No. 49 national ranking from Soccer Buzz. The class, which includes Kate Megna, Erin Kane, Sarah Teegarden, Jodi Klagos, Beth Steuer, Libby Shern and Bailey Briggs, was also tabbed as the top class in the league.
Up Next
If the Panthers win the league tournament, they will prepare for the NCAA Tournament. NCAA seeds and pairings should be announced Monday.
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