Aug. 31, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - A weekend of near misses for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team was capped off with a tough-luck 1-0 loss to Vanderbilt University in the second day of the Verizon/Wireless Milwaukee Cup here Sunday (Aug. 31). UWM dropped to 0-2 on the young campaign after dropping its second consecutive 1-0 game. With the win, Vanderbilt improved to 1-0.

"Both of our first two games came down to a couple of poor decisions defensively and you just can't have that against high-caliber teams," UWM head coach Michael Moynihan said. "I just thought in the first half we played behind Vanderbilt too much and we didn't serve the ball long and put pressure on them."

The visiting Commodores scored the only goal they would need at the 32:42 mark of the first half. The Panther defense failed on an "offside trap" which allowed VU forward Lea Lafield to slip through and push a 12-yard shot past goalkeeper Molly Schneider. Lafield took a pass from Susan McAleavy and was able to post the eventual game-winner. VU took the 1-0 lead into the half in a stanza that was evenly played.

Milwaukee's increased intensity was evident early on in the second half as the Panthers controlled the major run of play. Midfielder Melissa Ricter directed the UWM attack throughout the half as the Panthers outshot Vandy 4-3 in the stanza. It appearaed as if UWM was going to notch the game-tying goal in the 85th minute but Amber Jelinek's free kick richocheted off the near post, foiling a golden scoring opportunity. Vandy created two good scoring chances in the second 45 minutes but Panther goalkeeper Kerri St. Aubin made two very nice saves to keep it a one-goal game.

"I thought we controlled the rhythm a little better in the second half," noted Moynihan. "We really put some pressure on the defense and caused them some troubles. But we have to now find a way to start scoring some goals."

In the second game of the day in the Milwaukee Cup, Dayton defeated Marquette 1-0 to capture the title. The Flyers won the evenly matched game when Shannon Kuhl netted a penalty kick in the 85th minute. Dayton's Erin Showalter was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player while UD goalkeeper Sarah West was named the Defensive MVP. Joining Showalter and West on the All-Tourney team were Dayton's Katie Lowstuter and Jen Simonetti, Marquette's Katie Bissen, Carolyn Klopp, and Lindsay Smale, Jen Talavera and Jennifer Lewis of Vanderbilt, and Janice McGann and Melissa Ricter from UWM.

The Panthers will return to action on Friday (Sept. 5) when they host Kansas at 4:00 p.m. at Engelmann Field.