Nov. 27, 2002

LINCOLN - The No. 10 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer teams second round NCAA Tournament game versus No. 11 Creighton University featured all of the things evident at great soccer games. However, UWM's magical season came to an end here Wednesday (Nov. 27) as Creighton came back from one-goal deficits on two different occasions to pull out a 3-2 victory on the campus on Nebraska Wesleyan University. Milwaukee saw its school-record and current NCAA-best win streak snapped at 19 while finishing the season with a program-best 19-2-1 record. CU, who advances on to face St. John's University in the third round on Saturday (Nov. 30), improved to 16-3-2.

"This was just a great spectacle of college soccer here tonight," UWM head coach Louis Bennett said. "I applaud Creighton on a great game and they are a very good team. I'm happy with our intensity and level of play all night. I challenge all the remaining teams in the NCAA's to play as entertaining a game as we did tonight."

The Bluejays controlled the run of play in the early going, outshooting Milwaukee five to zero in the games first 15 minutes. However the Panthers took advantage of a quick counterattack to grab a 1-0 lead with 17:24 gone in the first half. Sophomore Ian Hoelker, substituting for the suspended Khaled-El Ahmad, started the play by driving a shot towards the goal from 18 yards out. Forward Bobby Lish slid towards the goal and redirected the shot past CU keeper Mike Gabb and into the back of the net. The goal was the sixth of the season for the junior.

Creighton, who eventually scored all three of its goals on corner kicks, took advantage of a swinging corner from David Wagenfuhr just nine minutes later as his corner kick was headed in by Julian Nash at the 26:56 mark to tie the game at one. The two teams played the remainder of the first half scoreless to head into halftime tied. Creighton outshot UWM seven to four in the first half while registering five corner kicks to the Panthers' three.

Milwaukee came out firing in the second half and its high-scoring offense appeared to be clicking on all cylinders. The Panthers created several dangerous chances in the half thanks to strong runs and nifty passing in their zone. Antou Jallow, the nation's leading goal scorer, put UWM ahead for the second time of the game when he scored his school-record and NCAA-best 24th goal at the 57:49 mark. Jallow headed home a Kyle Lance cross from just outside the six-yard box.

However, it didn't take the Bluejays long to counterattack as they were able to tie the game for a second time just 2:08 later. Senior Mike Tranchilla scored the equalizer when he was able to head home another Wagenfuhr corner kick at 59:57 for his 13th score of the year.

Then, just as the game appeared to be headed to overtime, Creighton took advantage of another corner kick and some UWM miscommunication to score the game-winning goal. In the 82nd minute Wagenfuhr sent a dangerous corner kick into the box. The ball, which was touched by Transchilla, slid past three Milwaukee defenders to a wide-open Joe Wieland who tucked it under the outstretched arms of Chris Dadaian for the first goal of his career. CU then stood strong with the 3-2 lead and withstood numerous UWM chances in the last few moments to advance to the third round.

"Right now its tough to think about but this will be a season to remember," UWM senior Chad Dombrowski said. "The last two years have been great for the program. Obviously we felt we could have continued further but it was a great game tonight. Winning one NCAA Tournament game was a great feeling and one hopefully the program can build on."

Milwaukee, which received the highest national ranking in school history at No. 8, will return 14 letterwinners next season including Jallow and two-time, First-Team All-Horizon League performer Tighe Dombrowski.