Oct. 19, 2002

Box Score

DETROIT - Anytime a team is working on an extended winning streak, wins will come in a wide variety of fashions. The 2002 version of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team is a perfect example of said philosophy as it won its 11th consecutive game with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Detroit here Saturday (Oct. 19). During the streak, the Panthers have boasted blowout victories, a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory at rival Wisconsin, and now this conference battle with the Titans en route to the second-best winning streak in school history. UWM is now 11-1-1 on the year and 4-0-0 in Horizon League play while Detroit falls to 10-4-2 and 1-3-1 in conference play.

"Anytime you can come here and play on this field when they have a very good team and come out with a win is big," UWM head coach Louis Bennett said. "Detroit was undefeated at home prior to today. We did something no other team has been able to come and do here so its a nice feeling."

Milwaukee grabbed the lead in the first half when familiar face Antou Jallow found the back of the net. Jallow, the second leading goal-scorer in the country, intercepted an errant UDM pass, dribbled through two defenders, and blistered a 10-yard shot into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Jallow currently has 15 goals on the season and has now connected in two consecutive games.

The Titans, who feature a high-scoring forward of their own, battled back at the 30:09 mark to tie the game at one. George Kithas scored his 11th goal of the season off of assists from Ablaye Camara and Brandon Falker for the equilizer. The two teams then played the remainder of the half without scoring and headed into the locker room in a deadlock.

Detroit came out aggressively in the second stanza as the game became more and more physical. the Titans missed a golden opportunity when the official awarded them a penalty kick 15 minutes into the second half. However, senior netminder Brad Swenby, who started in place of the resting Chris Dadaian, stopped the UDM penalty kick and thwarted the onsuing scoring chance.

Thanks to Swenby's heroics, the pendulum of momentum clearly swung the other way as the Panthers went back into attack mode. After nearly being fouled in the penalty box on the previous possession, Jallow was then taken down in the box during a UWM corner kick. This set the stage for senior defender Evan Richardson, who peppered home the penalty kick for the 2-1 lead and eventual game-winner.

"The game became very physical the last 20 minutes but we hung in there and persevered," Bennett noted. "Brad Swenby really came up big. It means alot to have a solid, veteran keeper you can put in there at any time. With Brad and Chris I think we have two of the best goalkeepers in the league."

Milwaukee will look to tie the 1985 squad's record of 12-straight victories on Tuesday (Oct. 22). The Panthers will play host to crosstown foe Marquette University in a 3 p.m. contest at Engelmann Field. The game helps kick off "Rivalry Week" on the UWM campus which will include a Friday (Oct. 25) men's soccer game between UWM and UW-Green Bay.