Oct. 20, 2002

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team completed the third and final leg of a UWM Athletic Department rise to league supremecy with a 1-0 victory over Butler University in a first-place Horizon League showdown here Sunday (Oct. 20). With the win, Milwaukee improved to 7-5-3 on the season and 4-0-1 in league play while Butler fell to 9-4-1 and 4-1-0 in Horizon action. Just as importantly, the women's soccer team joined Louis Bennett's men's soccer team and Kathy Litzau's volleyball squad as current leaders in each program's respective Horizon League races.

With first-place in the league standings on the line, Milwaukee clearly looked to be the aggressor from the beginning. The Panthers controlled the ball in their half of the field for the majority of the frame and continually pressured the Bulldog defense. Senior Katie Kubacki created numerous scoring chances with creative ball handling and passing while fellow senior Amy Oechsner narrowly missed a one-on-one with the BU goalkeeper.

Despite the Panthers controlling the pace of play, goals became hard to come by for both teams. With the game seemingly headed for a scoreless draw at halftime, Milwaukee grabbed the lead and eventual game-winner on a rather unlikely goal. Senior Maggie Suminski, playing on UWM's senior day, lofted a 25-yard free kick towards the goal box from the left side of the field. The apparent crossing pass slipped right through the hands of Bulldog goalkeeper Katie Sanders and settled in the back of the net. The marker was the third of the season for the Horizon League Player of the Year Candidate, who now has a team-leading 11 points on the year.

"It's funny, we scored on kind of a fluke goal after missing quite a few excellent chances in the first half," Moynihan pointed out. "However, I do think we deserved the win and the positive result. Our intensity was good from the beginning and I'm happy with how we executed our game plan. We were tight and organized defensively after struggling with that some."

In the beginning of the second half Butler appeared to be a new team, attacking on offense and winning balls in the midfield. The Bulldogs nearly scored the equalizing goal less than two minutes into the second stanza but Amy Morrison's 19-yard free kick was punched away by Panther netminder Molly Schneider. The two teams traded punches the remainder of the half but the bend and don't break Milwaukee defense held strong. Anchored by senior defender Carrie Durand, the Panthers posted their sixth shutout of the season and sixth in nine games.

Durand, who has played every minute of every match heading into Sunday, had to leave the field briefly after a head first collision with BU's Krista Rott. However, the dependable Durand returned to the lineup and helped control the Bulldog's and the league's leading scorer in Morrison.

"I really like the way Carrie Durand played today," added Moynihan. "She cracks her head open and starts bleeding and has to go out of the game for the first time this season. But, she comes back in two minutes later and finishes the job. I think that was indicitive of the spirit this team showed today."

The Panthers will now enjoy a break from Horizon League play with a pair of non-conference road matches next weekend. Milwaukee will head to Evanston, Ill., on Friday (Oct. 25) for a 3 p.m. contest versus Northwestern University before Sunday's (Oct. 27) city-rivalry game with Marquette Universtiy. The UWM-MU contest is set for 5 p.m. at Valley Fields.