Sept. 20, 2002

Box Score

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO - The year may be different but the results are certainly the same for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team. Fresh off back-to-back undefeated conference seasons and Horizon League championships, UWM started the 2002 league season with a bang, blanking Youngstown State University 2-0 here Friday (Sept. 20). The win was the 12th straight in league action for the Panthers, now 2-4-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the host Penguins fell to 1-4 on the year.

Milwaukee dominated the match from the start despite an inability to find the back of the net in the first half. UWM took 14 shots in the stanza, half of which were on net, but could not get one past Caitlin Bestard, YSU's goalkeeper. The Panthers couldn't capitalize on five different one-on-one chances in the first half while keeping the ball primarily in their offensive half of the field.

"This is a tough place to come and play because of the astroturf and the field is really narrow," UWM head coach Michael Moynihan said. "This is a very difficult place to score goals but we finally got some in the second half."

After dominating the first half with nothing to show for their efforts, it didn't take the Panthers long to find the net for the eventual game-winning goal. With 3:43 gone in the second half, UWM's Amber Jelinek was able to score after beating YSU's aggressive offsides trap with a nice run to the top of the box. The sophomore drove home a shot past Bestard off a through ball from freshman Janice McGann. The goal was Jelinek's first of the year and second of her career.

Youngstown State was able to keep UWM from scoring another goal for the next 38 minutes before the Panthers struck again with another nice run to goal. Junior Megan Mann scored her first goal of the season when she took a Rebecca Englund pass from eight yards out and drilled a ball inside the far post from a very tough angle for the 2-0 margin.

"It is good to get back on track and win again," Moynihan said. "We created a ton of chances and found the back of the net eventually in the second half. Our defense was very solid and we didn't really give up a chance all night. Individually, Amber has made a lot of progress this year and it's nice to see her become an impact player. And Megan is one of our hardest working and intelligent forwards. Nice to see her breakthrough and score."

The Panthers will stay on the road for Horizon League play when they travel to Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday (Sept. 22) for a contest with Wright State University. The match is set to begin at 11 a.m. on the WSU campus.