Oct. 14, 2002

MILWAUKEE - Panthers Prepare For Two Tough Tests The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team, who recently moved up to No. 11 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America national poll, will face one of its toughest stretches of its season with a pair of road matches this week. The Panthers, 9-1-1 on the season and 3-0-0 in Horizon League play, will make the short hour and a half trip west on Interstate 94 on Wednesday (Oct. 16) for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with the University of Wisconsin. Milwaukee will then head east for a Saturday (Oct. 20) league contest at the University of Detroit-Mercy. The UWM-UDM game is set for noon central time.

The Louis Bennett File Heading the UWM men's soccer program for the seventh season as head mentor and tenth in the program is head coach Louis Bennett. A veteran of the United States professional ranks, Bennett boasts a career 82-47-8 record in seven-plus seasons, including last season's 18-5-0 campaign. The 18 victories mark the most ever in school-history as Bennett garnered Horizon League and Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year honors. Under Bennett's watch, UWM has won two conference titles while advancing to the NCAA Tournament once. Bennett is assisted on the sidelines by six-year aide Stan Anderson and first-year man Jon Coleman. Anderson has been Bennett's assistant since he took the job while Coleman, a former Panther, has spent time volunteering with the program.

Scouting The Opposition - A Pair Of Regionally Ranked Foes Wisconsin - The Badgers of the Big Ten Conference will enter Wednesday's contest 7-5-0 on the season and ranked No. 8 in the most recent NSCAA/Great Lakes Region Poll. UW has cooled a bit after a very hot start, losing four of its last six games. However, Wisconsin has split its last two contests, defeating then-No. 20 Penn State University 2-1 on Oct. 6 before dropping a 5-1 decision to No. 4 Indiana University. Sophomore Nick Van Sicklen leads the Badger attack with 16 points on six goals and four assists while both David Martinez and reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Valentine Anozie have notched nine points on the year. Detroit - One of the highest scoring teams in the Horizon League, the Titans enter the week 10-3-2 overall and 1-2-1 in conference play. DU is also ranked in the region, checking in this week at No. 10 in the Great Lakes coaches poll. The high-flying Titan offense has scored 39 goals in 15 games, trailing only UWM in the conference scoring race. Junior forward George Kithas has scored 27 points on the season with 10 goals and seven assists while fellow frontliner Ablaye Camara has notched eight goals and seven assists.

Movin' On Up Much like a Beatles song of the 1960's, the UWM men's soccer team continues to climb the charts at an astounding pace. Just one week after debuting in the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 poll at No. 17, the Panthers have moved up six places to No. 11 in the latest poll released Monday (Oct. 14). Of the 10 schools ranked ahead of the Panthers, only five, No. 1 Stanford (11-1-0), No. 2 Wake Forest (9-0-2), No. 4 Indiana (10-1-2), No. 6 SMU (10-1-2), and No. 10 Bradley (11-0-3) boast better overall records.

Only One Better In the Region Not only has the UWM men's soccer team received recognition on a national level, but it has slowly been creeping up the NSCAA Great Lakes Region Poll as well. UWM held steady this past week at No. 2, trailing only Indiana University. Wednesday's opponent Wisconsin sits at No. 8 in the region while Sunday's opponent, and fellow league member Detroit, is ranked 10th in the poll.

Panthers Make History With this week's No. 11 national ranking in the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 poll, the 2002 UWM men's soccer team tied the highest national ranking in school history. The Panthers 1980 NCAA Tournament team plateued at No. 11 in the ISAA (Intercollegiate Soccer Association of America) poll for the week of Sept. 15, 1980.

UWM Streak Reaches 17-Year Best It's nine and counting for the Milwaukee men's soccer team. With a pair of convincing victories this past weekend the 2002 Panthers have posted nine consecutive wins after starting the season 0-1-1. The current nine-game winning streak is the best in school history since the 1985 squad started the season with 12 consecutive victories. Furthermore, UWM's nine consecutive wins ties it with Saint Louis and Indiana for the second-longest winning streak in the country. No. 18 Coastal Carolina boasts the longest current streak with 11 straight victories after opening the season with a tie.

Blake Takes Over With all the attention UWM junior Antou Jallow has been receiving, fellow forward B.J. Blake must have decided he wanted in on some of the fun. With Jallow nursing a sore groin muscle the last few weeks, Blake has taken over as the Panthers go-to-guy up-top. Blake scored the first two goals and assisted in the third in Milwaukee's 3-1 win over Akron on Friday before scoring a goal and adding two more assists in Sunday's 5-0 blanking of Wright State. For the week, Blake tallied nine points with three goals and three helpers while playing a part in six of the Panthers' eight goals.

Eldest Dombrowski Joins The Fun Chad Dombrowski finally has something to brag about at the dinner table. The senior, and eldest of three Dombrowski brothers' on the UWM roster, has been one of the Panthers' most solid players in 2002. However, the senior defender had been held without a goal through the team's first 10 games while younger brothers Tighe, a junior and Neil, a freshman, have notched two and three goals respectively. Thankfully for "big brother" things changed in the second half of Sunday's win as the senior netted his first two goals of the season in UWM's three-goal half.

Last Line Of Defense While the entire Panther defense has been stellar in 2002, the play of senior netminder Chris Dadaian should not go unnoticed. Since returning from an injury five games into the season, Dadaian has posted four shutouts while going a perfect 7-0 between the posts. In seven starts, Dadaian has allowed only four goals, good for a league-best 0.57 goals against average.

On The Record With Louis Bennett UWM men's soccer coach Louis Bennett on the upcoming week: "Really, the Wisconsin game is just another game for us. We can't focus on it anymore than any other game, especially a conference game. We have a very good Detroit team coming up on Saturday; so we have to be prepared. Obviously, the Madison game is fun for the fans but it's just a game we need to win."