Sept. 20, 2003

Box Score

GREEN BAY, WIS. - Looking to break a mini two-game losing streak, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer coach Louis Bennett knew he might as well mix things up a bit. As a result, the new look Panthers controlled the entire match in coasting to a 4-0 victory over the University of Missouri-Kansas City here Saturday (Sept. 20) in the first day of the Green Bay/FILA Classic. Senior midfielder Tighe Dombrowski registered a hat-trick while helping the Panthers improve to 4-3-0. With the loss, UMKC fell to 0-4-1.

"We revamped the squad a little bit and played some guys who have been playing very well in practice," Bennett said. "It was kind of a case of the new look Panthers rekindling their old style. For the most part, we played the type of soccer game that we have become accustomed to."

While Dombrowski and fellow senior Bobby Lish tallied all four UWM goals, it was a pair of first-time players that helped jumpstart the offense. Sophomore redshirt Demetrius Banks, and true freshman Steve Sperl, both playing in their first career games, earned the start and played aggressively from the beginning. With Banks and Sperl wreaking havoc on the Kangaroo defense, Dombrowski and the rest of the UWM offense began a barrage on the UMKC net.

Dombrowski put the Panthers up 1-0 at the 15:32 mark of the game when he volleyed home a shot from five yards out. Kyle Lance started the play by throwing it into the box, where Lish flipped it to the charging Dombrowski who hammered it home. Thanks to the tally, Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead into the break. The senior midfielder quickly made it 2-0 in the early portions of the second half, when he finished off a play that began with a UMKC miscue. Chris Brisson intercepted a pass from 30-yards out, and found a streaking Dombrowski for his second goal.

Milwaukee continued to put pressure on the Kangaroo goal, which helped result in two second half penalty kicks. Sperl, the forward from Wauwatosa, was taken down in the penalty box in the 60th minute, but his eventual penalty kick was knocked over the cross bar by UMKC goalkeeper Bret Clark. However, less than five minutes later Lish picked up Sperl when he drilled home a penalty kick, his fourth goal of the year, after being fouled in the 68th minute. Dombrowski finished the scoring at the 73:27 mark with a perfectly placed free kick from the top of the penalty area.

The three goals for Dombrowski are not only a career-high but they also mark the first time a UWM player scored three goals in a game since Antou Jallow torched Illinois-Chicago for four goals on Oct. 2, 2002. Milwaukee outshot the 'Roos 18-8 on the day while collecting seven corner kicks to their two. Junior netminder Kirk Thode stopped three shots and earned his second shutout of the season.

"Tighe had probably the best game of his very good career here today," noted Bennett. "Thanks to a few of the new guys we had consistent pressure on their defense all day and Tighe and Bobby Lish were able to take advantage of that. It was a very good team effort that should give us some confidence in the coming weeks."

UWM will compete in day two of the Green Bay/FILA Classic on Sunday (Sept. 21) with a 2:30 p.m. showdown versus the University of Vermont.