Nov. 10, 2001
Box Score
MILWAUKEE- B.J. Blake scored two goals and added an assist to lead No. 16 UWM (17-3) past Cleveland State (3-15), 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Engelmann Field in a Horizon League tournament quarterfinal. Seeded first as the regular-season league champions, UWM will now host the tournament semifinals and championship held Nov. 16-17.
The Panthers will play fourth-seed Wright State (12-6-1) in a semifinal game at 1 p.m. on Friday at Engelmann Field. The other semifinal game will feature second-seed Butler (9-8) against third-seed UIC (11-5-1) at 11 a.m. The championship game will take place on Saturday at noon.
"It was an ugly game, but we got the job done," UWM coach and 2001 Horizon League Coach of the Year Louis Bennett said of his team's 3-2 win. "In tournament time, we have to be happy with a win because we get to go on."
Blake scored his first goal in the 35th minute to take the 1-0 lead and finished what proved to be the gamewinner in the 51st minute. His first goal started when defender Khaled El-Ahmad dribbled up the field about 25 yards and laid it off to Kevin Roethe, who quickly crossed it into the box. Blake volleyed in the cross from eight yards out on the far post to give UWM the 1-0 lead. His goal in the second half came when he finished off a throw-in from Kyle Lance to put UWM up, 3-1.
Cleveland State's Joachim Walker missed a penalty kick in the 17th minute, but made it up with a goal 10 minutes later off a breakaway. Walker broke through from the midfield line and tucked a shot past UWM goalkeeper Chris Dadaian to tie up.
UWM quickly took the 2-1 lead a minute later when Chad Dombrowski scored after combining with Blake on the right side. Dombrowski got the ball from Blake and shot far post past Vikings goalkeeper Josip Novkovic from close range on the near post.
Misha Levkov's goal off a corner kick a minute later closed in on UWM's lead, but Cleveland State had only one good threat the rest of the game to score. UWM outshot the Vikings, 17-7, with 10 shots coming on goal. Novkovic recorded seven saves in the game, including six in the second half, while Dadaian tallied two.
"If we continue to give up sloppy goals and poor goals, the games are going to be close," Bennett said. "Right now, we're not taking care of our defensive business like we did in the early part of our season. But eventually we'll break away from that and stop performing with those deficiencies."
Though the Panthers are enjoying the most successful season in program history, Bennett's concern comes with the team recently giving up a lot more goals then it had in the beginning of the season. UWM has not shut out a team since the 1-0 win over Cleveland State on Oct. 21, and has outscored its opponents, 15-11, in the past six games. The Panthers started the first six games of the season with four shutouts while outscoring their opponents, 18-3.
"Being in this position is new to a lot of people," Bennett said of his team's success on the season. "But our elder players really have to step through and give the team more consistency in performance and stability all around."
Bennett was named the league coach of the year after leading UWM to an undefeated record in league play. His team's success has been recognized with a No. 16 national ranking and No. 2 regional ranking, which puts the Panthers in good position to receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament if they don't win their league tournament.
The win over Cleveland State gives UWM the new school record for wins, beating the previous-held 16 wins from the 1990 season. The Panthers are also undefeated at home in nine games, which currently beats the previous school-record for winning percentage at home of 6-0-1 from 1990.
