Sept. 29, 2002

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA - While University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee head women's soccer coach Micheal Moynihan isn't ready to challenge Dionne Warwick in the psychic field, the sixth-year mentor certainly can claim some ability for prognostication. Despite a sluggish start, Moynihan predicted his team would find its groove and identity with some time and after a 3-0 blanking of the University of Northern Iowa here Sunday (Sept. 29) the UWM mentor is looking brighter with each passing match. Milwaukee is now above the .500 mark for the first time on the season with a 5-4-1 mark after winning its fourth-straight game and 13th consecutive road tilt. The shutout, the squad's fourth in a row, ties for the best streak in school history set twice by last year's team. With the loss UNI falls to 0-8-1 on the year.

"We knew we would go through a feeling out period early on in the season and I told the team to be patient," Moynihan said. "We are gradually getting more dangerous offensively and our defense is becoming more and more solid. Once we got the right mix of players in there and the rotation figured out I knew we would be ok."

After failing to score in the first half of their first eight games, the Panthers struck in the first stanza for the second consecutive game, this time jumping ahead of Northern Iowa 1-0 at the 32:57 mark. Elizabeth Chudy got the Panthers on the board when she found the back of the net thanks to a nice crossing pass from Amy Oechsner. UWM created the scoring chance with solid possession and an offensive buildup. The goal for Chudy was her second on the season, tying her with four other players for the team lead.

Senior netminder Mary Duffy played the first half in goal for UWM and stopped all three Panther shots on goal. The senior has now played 225 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal and has posted a win in two consecutive starts.

UWM continued to pressure the hosts into the second half, outshooting UNI 9-5 in the frame. Milwaukee's pressure paid off in the 57th minute when the guests stretched their lead to 2-0. Goalie Molly Schneider launched a goal kick over the UNI defense where Amber Jelinek raced it down and found the net for her second goal of the season. Milwaukee added some icing on the cake less than 20 minutes later when Maria Iaizzo notched her first collegiate goal. The hard-working forward, who has come close to scoring numerous times this season, finally dented the stat sheet when she drilled home a shot from 10-yards out for the final margin.

"We talked before the game about consistency and what it takes to be a championship caliber team," noted Moynihan. "We started off a little slow today but we eventually got it going. All of our forwards looked dangerous today and they created some chances. We need that as we get deeper into conference play."

UWM will return to the aforementioned conference action next Friday (Oct. 6) when the University of Detroit comes to Milwaukee. The game is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Englemann Field. The Panthers will then stay at home for two consecutive contests versus Big Ten Conference schools when the University of Minnesota and cross-state rival University of Wisconsin come to town October 11th and 13th, respectively.