Oct. 27, 2002

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - For fans of statistics, records, and numbers, Sunday's (Oct. 27) men's soccer game between the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Cleveland State University was an enjoyable one. For fans cheering for UWM in the Horizon League contest, the game was doubly sweet as the homestanding Panthers claimed an impressive 7-0 victory here at Engelmann Field. With the win, Milwaukee improves to 14-1-1 on the year and 6-0 in conference play while the Vikings fall to 8-8-0 and 5-2-0 in the league. The win boosted UWM's school-record win streak to 14 while also helping clinch at least a share of the 2002 Horizon League title.

In a game with league title implications, Milwaukee scored early and often to deflate the sails of the upset-minded Vikings. The Panther offense tormented the CSU defense and starting goalkeeper into making mistakes, which, in turn, resulted in a season-best seven goals. The goal total is the most by a UMW squad since a 7-2 win over Coastal Carolina on Sept. 27, 1997. The Panthers now have 28 goals in Horizon League play, which ties the 1994 squad for most in a single conference season.

With the win and a Butler loss at Wright State Sunday, the Panthers clinched the outright Horizon League regular season championship. UWM will host a quarterfinal match in the Horizon League Championship Saturday, Nov. 9. If the Panthers win that contest, they would host the semifinals and finals of the league championship, Nov. 15-17, at Engelmann Field.

"Ironically, we weren't very sharp in the first 15 minutes," UWM head coach Louis Bennett said. "But once we figured out some of our problems defensively we were able to turn it up and get it right. We got things going and played very well in the second half."

While the Panthers scored seven goals from five different players and an own goal, the story of this game was the nifty passing and play-making ability of one Bobby Lish. The junior forward capped off an impressive week by assisting on all five of UWM's individual goals before scoring the seventh and final tally at the 70:18 mark. With the five assists, Lish tied the single-game school record set back in Milwaukee's inaguaral season of 1973. On Sept. 29 of that year, Zach Papanikolaou tallied five assists in a 9-2 romp of Beloit College. In the Panther's two games this weekend, which included a 5-0 blanking of UW-Green Bay on Friday, Lish tallied 10 points on two goals and six assists. No. 20 now leads the squad with 10 helpers on the season.

"It's amazing that as good a game as Bobby Lish played we had quite a few players who put up strong performances," Bennett noted. "CSU is a team that has explosive players so it says a lot about our performance when you can dominate a team like them who were 5-1 in the conference before today. Bobby led the way but we really looked sharp in the second half."

Lish wasn't the only Panther to post an impressive statistical game as the league's leading scorer, Antou Jallow, padded his gaudy 2002 numbers. The Swedish sophomore scored the first goal of the game, and eventual game-winner, 3:45 into the contest before tallying his second goal, and 18th of the year, in the 49th minute. Jallow's second goal came after he blasted a shot into the right corner of the net after a spectacular touch, spin, and fire from a Lish crossing pass.

Defensively, senior Chris Dadaian continued to post blinder after blinder as he registered his eighth shutout of the 2002 campaign. The blanking was the fourth straight in conference play for the senior and 20th of his four-year career, making him UWM's all-time leader in shutouts. With the 7-0 blanking, Milwaukee is now a perfect 4-0 at home in conference play while outscoring the opposition 22-0.