Sept. 28, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team used a strong first half performance en route to coasting to a 3-0 win in Horizon League action here Sunday (Sept. 26). The Panthers, playing in their league home opener, scored three times in the first 33 minutes of the game and held the visiting Titans scoreless the rest of the way to post their fourth straight win. UWM now improves to 7-3-0 overall and 2-0-0 in league action while Detroit falls to 3-5-1 overall and 1-1-0 in league play.

"The first half was probably the best 45 minutes of soccer we have played all year," UWM head coach Louis Bennett said. "We were dangerous offensively and our defense was organized. We got to play a lot of different people and they all contributed."

Leading scorer Bobby Lish got the Panthers on the board at the 7:14 mark when he drilled home a six-yard shot off of a slicing Trent Furtsch through ball. The goal was the sixth of the year for Lish while also marking the sixth straight game in which the senior has tallied at least one point. Hermann Trophy candidate Antou Jallow struck next for UWM, as he scored his fourth goal of the season from six yards out after taking a Tighe Dombrowski pass and beating UDM keeper Matt Strabbing in a one-on-one situation.

Coach Bennett began to sub freely midway through the first stanza with the second unit continuing the fine play. Freshman Steve Sperl scored his first-career goal at the 32:16 mark when he drilled a shot from seven yards with an assist going to junior Cliff Ellsworth. UWM outshot Detroit eight to three in the first half and controlled a large portion of the play.

"It's nice to see goal scorers score goals," Bennett added. "Guys like Bobby Lish, Antou, and Steve Sperl are goal scorers. That's what they do and they showed us some of that today."

Milwaukee continued to control the tempo of the game despite not scoring in the second half. The Panther defense, highlighted by the return of All-League performer Khaled El-Ahmad, contributed to UWM's third shutout in four games. Netminder Kirk Thode notched his fourth shutout of the season, stopping three shots in 90:00 of action.

"We still had chances to score a few more goals in the second half but we just didn't quite connect on a couple of those," noted Bennett. "We used fortunate enough to use the second half as a bit of a training ground and I think we made the most of it. We made things a little more difficult than we needed to in the second half but we came out alright."

Milwaukee will stay at home and put its four-game winning streak on the line Wednesday (Oct. 1) when the Badgers of the University of Wisconsin make the trip east. The game, which is set for 3:00 p.m. at Engelmann Field, will also serve as the MACC Fund Charity game. The UWM players will wear special commemorative jerseys during the game, which will be auctioned off with all proceeds benefiting the MACC Fund.