Aug. 28, 2004

ROCHESTER HILLS, MICH. - If today's exhibition is any indication the future of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer program is in pretty good shape. The Panthers, who started six freshmen and 10 underclassmen, defeated back-to-back NCAA Qualifier Oakland University 1-0 in the exhibition finale for both teams here Saturday (Aug. 28). UWM head coach Louis Bennett decided to leave eight veteran starters in Milwaukee for some rest and played just 12 players in the exhibition road victory. Despite the risk, the young Panthers battled a tough Oakland squad to a scoreless tie before Troy Spielmann found the back of the net in the second half for the game-winner. "Doing something like this is a bit of a risk but it turned out great for us," Bennett said. "You leave eight starters at home and still beat a regionally-prominent team on the road, now that's impressive. This match today ended a fantastic exhibition season for us but now we have to carry that forward into the regular season." The Panthers, who were playing without seniors Kirk Thode, Chris Brisson, Khaled El-Ahmad, Antou Jallow, Trent Furtsch and Cliff Ellsworth, and juniors Neil Dombrowski and Kyle Zenoni, showed resiliency throughout the match while sticking to the game plan. Led by defenders Billy Meier and Ian Hoelker and goalkeeper Eric Mickschl, the Panthers played a very disciplined style while taking advantage of counterattacking opportunites. The two squads battled to a scoreless first half with Oakland holding a slight edge in shots, 5-3. However just one of those shots was on goal as Mickschl needed just one save to keep the Golden Grizzlies off the board. Both teams turned up the offensive pressure in the second half as evidenced by four OU shots and five second half Panther corner kicks. Milwaukee eventually scored the game's only goal in the 66th minute thanks to an impressive scoring play. Hoelker began things by collecting the ball in the defensive end. The senior then passed to midfielder Garrett McCabe who found sophomore Steve Sperl at the top of the box. Sperl collected the ball before chesting it to the freshman Speilmann. The midfielder then wiggled through two defenders and rifled a right footed shot into the lower righthand corner of the net for the game-winner. "Oakland is a very solid team who has been to two straight NCAA Tournaments and is picked to win the Mid-Con again this year," added Bennett. "For us to come here with 12 players and seven freshman, and get the victory is a testament to this group. They all came into camp extremely fit and ready to compete right away. Billy Meier and Ian Hoelker showed a lot of leadership defensively as did Steve Sperl. Meanwhile, Troy Spielmann and Zeke Dombrowski were two of the standout freshmen today." The Panthers finished the 2004 exhibition season unbeaten thanks to a 3-1 victory over No. 16 Michigan on Thursday (Aug. 26). UWM will open the regular season on Friday (Sept. 3) at 5 p.m. versus Dayton in the Big Toe Soccer Invitational in Madison.