Oct. 1, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Madison needed two things to beat the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team; one goal and great goalkeeping. The visiting Badgers got both things in claiming a 1-0 victory in front of 2,138 fans here Wednesday (Oct. 1). UW rode the strength of a first half goal and strong goalkeeping by Eric Hanson to improve to 5-6-0 on the season. Meanwhile, UWM drops to 7-4-0 with the loss.

"We just didn't get out of the blocks very well today," UWM head coach Louis Bennett said. "We created a few opportunities but we just weren't good enough to win the game. All the credit goes to Wisconsin. This was a big game for them. We have become the team to beat in the state and we are experiencing that first hand now."

Milwaukee controlled play early in the first half, creating numerous scoring chances. However, the strong Wisconsin defense thwarted most Panther attempts before they could challenge Hanson in goal. The Badgers were able to notch the eventual game-winner in the 40th minute when David Martinez scored on a counterattack. Martinez took a long pass, fed it to Nick Van Sicklen who tapped a short pass back to Martinez who then beat UWM keeper Kirk Thode high and to the right post. The first half was evenly matched statistically, with each team taking six shots overall while UWM holding a seven to six edge in corner kicks and fouls.

The two teams played back and forth throughout much of the second half with neither team creating many scoring opportunities. However, in the last 25 minutes UWM began to control the run of play, narrowly missing tying the game on several occasions. The best scoring opportunity came in the 80th minute when Tighe Dombrowski rose high above the defense to receive a Trent Furtsch corner kick. Dombrowski then headed the ball home only to have Hanson make a diving, one-handed save to knock the ball away. UWM continued to press forward the rest of the way but the taut Badger defense held on for the victory.

"We had some key players that weren't really into the game at times," added Bennett. "But that kind of thing happens in soccer. Sometimes in the big games we are trying to do too much. We had a great crowd today and the MACC Fund event was a great event. It's just unfortunate we couldn't get a victory."

UWM will look to get back in the win column when they travel to Akron, Ohio to face the nationally-ranked University of Akron. The No. 20 Zips-Panther contest is slated to begin at 11 a.m. at Lee Jackson Field.