Oct. 6, 2004

Box Score

MADISON, WIS. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team had numerous chances to tie the game late but couldn't convert while dropping a 2-1 decision to in-state rival University of Wisconsin here Wednesday (Oct. 6). The Badgers took a two-goal lead in the second half and withstood UWM's late push to improve to 4-6-0 overall while Milwaukee fell to 3-3-3 on the season.

"We made too many foolish errors tonight," UWM head coach Louis Bennett said. "In the games we have lost that has been the case in every one. We are a lot more style than substance right now and style doesn't win games."

Wisconsin appeared the aggressor in the early going, controlling tempo while playing a more physical style. The two teams traded punches early before UW took advantage of a miscue to grab a 1-0 lead. Milwaukee turned the ball over in the midfield and B.J. Goodman sent a long pass ahead to Dirk Pearson. Pearson's shot hit the crossbar and bounced in front of the net where a sprinting Nick Van Sicklen tapped it home for the goal.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee struggled to find an offensive rhythm and trailed 1-0 heading into the break. UW outshot the Panthers 6-4 in the first half with UWM registering just one shot on goal to two for the Badgers.

The Panthers, behind the play of some youthful reserves, appeared energized in the second half. Despite the improved play Wisconsin notched a two-goal lead thanks to another UWM turnover. Following the change of possession David Martinez passed to Aaron Witchger who chipped a ball over the head of UWM keeper Eric Mickschl. Van Sicklen once again ran on the ball and headed home his second goal of the game in the 58th minute.

"What is annoying is that we knew exactly how Wisconsin was going to play but we didn't do anything about it," Bennett added. "They spoiled our chances and then tried to breakout on offense. It doesn't matter how good of soccer you play in the second half if you can't stop the foolish mistakes."

From that point on UWM took complete control of the game and eventually cut the lead in half in the 66th minute. Dale Weiler took a corner kick from the left side and launched it to the outside corner of the penalty box. Neil Dombrowski headed it back towards the top of the box where Trent Furtsch rifled home a shot to the upper left hand corner for his second goal in two games.

The Panthers continued to press forward and nearly tied the game on three different occasions. With 13 minutes to play freshman Troy Spielmann beat four UW players with some nifty individual moves and drilled a shot to the far post. Badger keeper Eric Hanson made a sprawling save and then collected Dombrowski's rebound shot just seconds later. UWM had another great chance late when a flurry in front of the net led to a low line drive from Chris Brisson which Hanson smothered once again to preserve the victory.

Milwaukee outshot the Badgers 12-4 in the second half for a 16-10 edge in the game while registering four corner kicks to zero for the hosts. Hanson made six saves in goal for Wisconsin while Mickschl stopped two UW shots.

UWM will look to right the ship on Sunday (Oct. 10) when it heads to Illinois-Chicago for a 3:00 p.m. Horizon League showdown.