Freshman Greg Rosenthal
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UWM Closes Out Regular Season Schedule At NIU Tuesday
Panthers battle Huskies for LeWang Cup
Nov. 5, 2007
THIS WEEK IN MILWAUKEE MEN'S SOCCER
Game 19: "LeWang Trophy"
• UWM (5-10-3) vs. Northern Illinois (5-8-4)
• Huskie Soccer Field
• DeKalb, Ill.
• Tue., Nov. 6, 2 p.m.
• Milwaukee leads 18-12-3
• Last meeting: 10/1/06 - UWM 0; Northern Illinois 1 (OT)
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team closes out the regular season this week, playing at Northern Illinois Tuesday at 2 p.m. The Panthers will then enjoy the weekend off from the opening rounds of the Horizon League Tournament, courtesy of the bye they received as the number two seed in the league standings.
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Milwaukee's match with Northern Illinois will mark the 34th showdown between the regional foes and former Midwestern Collegiate Conference rivals, with UWM currently leading the series, 18-12-3. In addition, the winner of the match claims the John LeWang Cup, named after the former NIU coach who was killed in a car accident prior to the 1981 season.
With a victory, the Panthers will have the opportunity to hold all three cups they play for during the regular season. They are currently in possession of the Chancellor's Cup after their 1-0 win over Green Bay last month and also maintained possession of the Milwaukee Cup after a 1-1 draw with Marquette last week.
Last season's game with the Huskies went to overtime, with NIU regaining the Cup for the first time in seven years with a 1-0 victory. The Panthers had won six-straight in the series from 2000 to 2005.
If you cannot make it to the game, follow along on Gametracker on the UWM website at www.uwmpanthers.com. Or, you can also listen to the game on NIU's website: niuhuskies.com.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies enter play Tuesday at 5-8-4 overall, including losses in both of their most recent match-ups: a 3-0 defeat at Hartwick Oct. 28 and a 3-1 loss at Bowling Green Nov. 2. The year has not gone quite as expected, as Northern Illinois won both the Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament championships a year ago while posting a record of 15-6-1. The Huskies also advanced to the second round in the NCAA tournament, led by a strong team defense that included goalkeeper Joe Zimka, the national goals against leader. Not only did Zimka lead the nation in goals against average at .207, but he also broke John Putna's 28-year NCAA record (0.27) for lowest GAA in NCAA history. He also led the nation with a .955 save percentage.
Fast forward to 2007, where Zimka has allowed an average of 1.28 goals a game in 14 appearances with a .729 save percentage. The Huskies have scored 17 goals on the year, with Marcus McCarty leading the charts in goals with five and points with 11. Fraser Gibson and Chris Johnson are second with three goals each, while the team leader in assists consists of a group of three players all with three helpers.
MILWAUKEE CUP STAYS AT UWM
It was not quite the thrilling 3-2 victory of the 2006 season, but the Panthers maintained possession of the Milwaukee Cup none the less, by earning a 1-1 tie with Marquette last week.
The Golden Eagles scored an early goal on their only shot attempt of the first half and held the lead until late in the game. The Panthers were the aggressors all match and outshot MU, 14-to-7, but could not break through until late in the game. After a close-range shot by junior Adam Skalecki was pushed up and over the cross bar, the team used the following corner kick to its advantage. Seniors Martin Castro and Steve Bode teamed up, with Castro sending a perfect corner kick to the middle of the box, where Bode was to volley it into the back of the net in the 85th minute to get the 1-1 draw and keep the cup.
HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT STARTS FRIDAY
The Panthers will officially begin the quest for their fifth league tournament crown in the past six years when the Horizon League Tournament gets underway Friday. As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the Panthers earned a bye into the semifinals and will not play until November 16. If the team claims the title this fall, it will mark its sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the past seven seasons. Milwaukee heads into the tournament playing well, posting a 5-2-3 record in their past 10 games.
The event gets underway this Friday with three first round games. No. 9 Cleveland State (3-13-2, 0-7-1) will travel to No. 4 Green Bay (9-4-5, 4-2-2), No. 8 Detroit (5-9-5, 1-4-3) heads to No. 5 Butler (8-6-4, 4-2-2) and No. 7 Valparaiso (4-10-3, 2-4-2) travels to No. 6 Wright State (6-12-0, 3-5-0).
In the second round, third-seeded UIC (8-5-5, 4-1-3) awaits the winner of Wright State and Valparaiso, hosting that game in Chicago Sunday. The winners of the Green Bay/Cleveland State and Butler/Detroit will also play Sunday, with the highest remaining seed hosting that match.
As the No. 1 seed, Loyola (10-4-4, 5-1-2) will play host to the semifinals and finals of the tournament Nov. 16 & 18 in Chicago. The Panthers are set to play Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. , taking on the winner of the UIC/Wright State/Valparaiso side of the bracket. The host Ramblers will play the winner of the Green Bay/Cleveland State/Butler/Detroit side of the bracket, starting at 5 p.m. that day. The Horizon League Tournament Championship is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. start Sunday, Nov. 18, at Loyola.
DOMBROWSKI LEADING THE WAY
Entering his senior year, Zeke Dombrowski had career totals of one goal, five assists and seven points. Just a little past the midway point in 2007, he had already eclipsed those numbers for goals and points. Entering play this week, he leads the team in goals (4), points (11), shots (49), shots on goal (18), minutes played (1,640) and is tied for the team lead in assists (3). His points have come at vital times as well, assisting on the tying goal against Wisconsin Oct. 10, netting the winning goal against Wright State Oct. 7 and assisting the winner vs. Detroit Oct. 12.
He has been busy in the classroom as well, earning Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors earlier this season. Last week, he was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He moves on to the national ballot later this month.
OVERTIME JINX CONTINUES
In settling for a 1-1 draw with Marquette Oct. 31, UWM saw a streak get extended once again that they would like to see end: the team is now 0-7-10 in its past 17 overtime matches. They were 0-2-2 in 2006, 0-3-5 in 2005 and lost in extra time in the final match of the 2004 season (2-1 at UCSB in the NCAA Tournament). The Panthers last OT win came on Oct. 31, 2004, a 1-0 win over Cleveland State.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS IN LEAGUE PLAY
After a slow start to the 2007 season, the Panthers righted the ship in time for the start of Horizon League play. In their eight conference games, the team gave up just five goals (posting four clean sheets) for a team goals against average of 0.61.
They held edges in every statistical category: goals (9-5), assists (8-5), shots (95-85), shots on goal (41-31) and corner kicks (48-38). Five different players accounted for the five game-winning goals: seniors Zeke Dombrowski (Oct. 7 vs. Wright State), Ken Ogorzalek (Oct. 5 vs. Butler) and Martin Castro (Oct. 14 vs. Cleveland State) and juniors Colin Baker (Oct. 12 vs. Detroit) and Adam Skalecki (Oct. 27 vs. Green Bay).
MILWAUKEE RUNS DEEP
One major strength of the 2007 team is the exceptional depth displayed at each position. So far this year, 24 different players have seen time, with 22 of them earning at least one start. Only two players, seniors Zeke Dombrowski and Tenzin Rampa, have started all 18 games with six others starting at least 13 times each. Fourteen different Panthers have notched at least one point this season with 10 different players scoring at least one goal and five different players notching game-winners. Dombrowski leads the team in goals with four and points with 11, while also tying for the team lead with three assists. Junior Colin Baker and freshman Robert Refai both sit second place with six points each.
SENIOR SALUTE
The match against Loyola Oct. 18 served as Senior Night. Seven seniors - Steve Bode, Martin Castro, Zeke Dombrowski, Dan Horst, Chris Lins, Ken Ogorzalek and Tenzin Rampa were honored in a pregame ceremony before playing in their final regular season home game in a UWM uniform. With the bye the team earned with its second-place league finish, the match also turned out to be the final home game of the year.
TOUGH OPPONENTS
The 0-8 start looked bad on paper, but a closer look reveals that four of UWM's 2007 opponents are ranked, or have been ranked, in the national polls this season. UC Santa Barbara, Tulsa, Gonzaga and Cal Poly have all been ranked at some point this year. Additionally, the eight teams Milwaukee lost to own a combined 68-34-24 (.635) record this season, including an 11-2-2 ledger by current No. 11 Tulsa, a 10-3-3 mark by current No. 15 UC Santa Barbara, 10-3-2 by Dartmouth and 9-2-3 by Cal Poly.
IT ISN'T LETTING UP OVERALL, EITHER
In addition to the .635 winning percentage that is owned by the eight schools that knocked off Milwaukee to start 2007, the Panthers also lead the way - so to speak - in another category. The overall record of all opponents on UWM's 2007 schedule is currently 134-123-66 (.519). The only other Horizon League team that has a total opponent win-loss record even close to .500 is Loyola, at a just-over break-even 133-131-46 (.503).
SO CLOSE, SO FAR
If it feels like the Panthers have been in every match but can't catch a few necessary breaks, it could almost be considered a fact. After a 1-0 defeat to at home to Loyola Oct. 18, the trend sounds familiar: 15 of the last 18 UWM losses dating back to last season have been by just one goal.
Last year, the Panthers overall record consisted of nine losses, but eight of them were one-goal setbacks. Three of them came at the hands of Top 25 teams: 1-0 to No. 2 SMU Aug. 27, 2-1 to No. 6 Washington in overtime Sept. 10 and 1-0 to No. 12 UIC Oct. 3.
SLOW START NO WORRY
The Panthers may have been 0-8 for the first time ever, but a slow start is no indication of how the season will go at UWM. The team started 1-2-2 in 2004, only to finish the season at 14-5-3 overall. A 3-3 start in 2003 led to a 16-6-1 campaign, while a 2-3 start in 2000 led to a record of 11-9-1. UWM is now 5-2-3 after the 0-8 start in 2007.
Also, in 2002, UWM did not have a victory after two games (0-1-1) but went on to produce a program-best record of 19-2-1.
FRESH FACES
The Panthers newcomers continue to make an impression on the line-up, as 10 have seen time on the field in 2007, including eight who have made starts. That trend continued against Cleveland State Oct. 14, as Elliott Dunn, Greg Rosenthal, Van Hong, Ben Chavers and Raphael Martinez were all in the starting line-up. They've handled the pressure of big games too: Rosenthal, Martinez and Calvin Mai were in the starting line-up against UC Santa Barbara Sept. 7, playing the defending national champions.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE FOR MARTINEZ
Speaking of the newcomers, Raphael Martinez was given some national recognition in the preseason when College Soccer News tabbed him as one of its "100 Freshman To Keep An Eye On In 2007". The website noted his playing for the club team Chicago Magic, his 17 goals and seven assists as a senior and that he was an NSCAA Youth All-American.
HOME COOKING
Despite a 2-3-2 mark at Engelmann in 2007, the Panthers still rank right up there with the best in the country when it comes to home-field advantage. In 2006, that was no different, as the Panthers posted back-to-back shutouts to open the home slate and finished 7-2-1. Since the start of the 2001 season, UWM has turned Engelmann Field into a place visiting teams do not want to see on their schedule. They have gone 52-8-3 on their home pitch in that time, including a 13-2 mark in postseason play and a perfect 2-0 mark in NCAA Tournament action.
THE DRIVE FOR 400
The Panthers hit a significant milestone in their program history Oct. 12 against Detroit: all-time victory No. 400. UWM entered play in 2007 with an all-time mark of 397-222-53, a .635 winning percentage.
MILESTONE PROGRAM WINS:
1: Marquette, 4-1 (9/22/73)
50: UW-Green Bay, 4-0 (10/7/78)
100: Northern Illinois, 4-3 (11/6/82)
150: Cleveland State, 2-1 (10/18/87)
200: Michigan State, 4-0 (10/13/91)
250: Cleveland State, 5-0 (10/15/95)
300: Loyola (MD), 2-0 (9/17/00)
350: Detroit, 3-0 (9/28/03)
400: Detroit, 1-0 (10/12/07)
NOW THAT'S FAST!
Junior Travis Phillips gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead against Yale Sept. 23 before most people had even found their seats. Phillips caught the Yale goalkeeper off guard with a 35-yard blast off a free kick from near midfield in the first minute of play. The tally at the 55-second mark was the sixth-quickest goal to start a match in program history.
Quickest UWM Goal Scored To Start A Game
# Time Date Opponent Player
1. 0:19 9/14/03 Memphis B.J. Blake
2. 0:23 9/12/93 Alabama A&M Jake Provan
3. 0:26 8/29/03 Northern Illinois Bobby Lish
4. 0:32 9/17/80 Minnesota Dave Dray
5. 0:49 11/15/02 Butler Evan Richardson
6. 0:55 9/23/07 Yale Travis Phillips
PANTHERS IN THE POLLS
The Panthers were picked by league coaches to place third in the Horizon League regular season, according to the results of the preseason poll announced Aug. 23 by the league office. Milwaukee has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in five of the past six seasons, reaching the second round in the last four it appeared (2002-05). It has compiled a league record of 34-5-3 in that time.
UIC, the regular season champion in 2006, took the top spot this year with 64 points and eight first place votes (all possible). Green Bay edged out UWM for second, compiling 53 points (and one first place vote) to the 48 that the Panthers received. This marks just the second time in the past six years that the Panthers were not chosen as the favorite. In 2006, they were tabbed for a second place finish.
1. UIC (8 first place votes) - 64 pts.
2. Green Bay (1) - 53
3. Milwaukee - 48
4. Loyola - 45
5. Butler - 31
6. Cleveland State - 27
7. Detroit - 25
8. Wright State - 23
9. Valparaiso - 8
SENIOR CLASS READY TO RETURN TO FORM
The seniors on the 2007 squad will look to go out on a high note, and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament is what they have in mind. After going to the second round of the tournament in each of their first two seasons, the seniors will look to improve on their 2-1-1 NCAA ledger in four games with a return trip this fall.
ON TAP
Milwaukee will have the chance to watch the Horizon League Tournament bracket develop over the weekend courtesy of its bye into the semifinals. The team will return to action November 16, playing UIC, Wright State or Valparaiso. The match is scheduled to be played at Loyola and will start 30 minutes after completion of the first game that night, tentatively set for 7:30 p.m.
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