Nov. 12, 2001

MILWAUKEE - The UWM women's soccer (15-4) team won't have to travel far when it plays their first-round game of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The Panthers will play Dartmouth 5 p.m. in Milwaukee at Marquette University, which received the hosting honors after getting the at-large bid.

"It's awesome. We're very surprised, but very happy," UWM coach Michael Moynihan said of the pairings. "For the city of Milwaukee to have two teams in the tournament at the same site is unbelievable. Both teams have a lot of local talent, so it's great for the soccer community. We've also had great fan support all season, so this will definitely be a treat."

The Panthers have never faced Dartmouth (9-4-1), who received the at-large bid into the tournament after taking a share of the Ivy-League title. The Big Green lost out on the automatic bid on a tiebreaker to Princeton. UWM received the automatic bid after winning the Horizon League championship on Sunday with a thrilling 1-0 win in triple overtime against Butler. The Panthers did not allow a single goal all season in league play.

"I really don't know what to say about the match up," Moynihan said. "I don't know much about them, so we'll have to do some research and watch the game tapes. Our team said they wanted to play someone new, someone we haven't played before. So we got our wish."

Marquette will host Michigan in the first-round game at 7:30 p.m. following the UWM vs. Dartmouth game. The games will take place at Marquette's Valley Fields, with the winners of each match advancing to the second round to be played on Sunday at 1 p.m.