Sept. 11, 2004

MILWAUKEE - The University of Tulsa scored two goals in the first nine minutes of the game and never looked back in defeating the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 4-1, in men's soccer action here Saturday (Sept. 11). The Golden Hurricane, the 20th ranked team in the nation, scored three times in the first half while improving to 2-0-1 on the season. With the loss, UWM fell to 0-1-2 on the year.

"Anytime you give up two goals that early to a nationally ranked team you are going to be in trouble," UWM head coach Louis Bennett said. "On any given day I think we could play with Tulsa but for a very important 20 minutes they were better than us. They played very well from the beginning and then played intelligent soccer from then on out."

Tulsa got on the board at the 6:33 mark when Ryan Pore hammered home an impressive free kick from 15 yards out. Todd Goddard made it 2-0 Golden Hurricane in the ninth minute when he volleyed home a loose ball following a UT corner kick.

Milwaukee pushed forward from that point on and quickly cut the lead in half just four minutes later. The Panthers collected the ball in their defensive end and moved it forward. Midfielder Kyle Zenoni collected the ball around midfield and forwarded a pass to a streaking Cliff Ellsworth. The senior forward made two quick moves and slipped a shot into the lower righthand corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

The Milwaukee push was shortlived, however, as Tulsa grabbed another two-goal lead in the 18th minute. Goddard sent a pass across the goal mouth to Matt Wiley who headed the ball home to give Tulsa the 3-1 lead. TU outshot Milwaukee eight to seven in the first half while each team took one corner kick.

Tulsa sat back for most of the second half and thwarted numerous Milwaukee attacks. The Panthers possessed the ball for much of the frame but couldn't find the back of the net. Antou Jallow hit the post in the 65th minute while Steve Sperl narrowly missed the rebound shot after the Jallow miss. Despite the UWM push, Tulsa scored late in the second half when Pore took a long Greg McKenna pass and beat Panther keeper Kirk Thode on a breakaway in the 89th minute.

Milwaukee finished the game with 16 shots to 12 for the Golden Hurrican while registering six corner kicks to two for UT. Tulsa keeper Dominic Cervi stopped three shots in the victory while Thode made two saves in his first loss of the season.

"We have to learn to adjust to different strategies and different styles of play," Bennett added. "I think we felt we had a safety shield that we couldn't be scored upon but Tulsa ripped that shield off right away. On the bright side, things are going to change for us. We are just creating too many chances to not score more goals."

In the first game of the Coca-Cola Panther Invitational Penn defeated Wisconsin 3-0. Derrick Jumper scored the first of two first half goals while Derek Hobson found the net for the second marker. Stephen Kroculick completed the scoring in the 85th minute with a 14-yard shot. Penn keeper Daniel Cepero stopped nine Badger shots in earning the shutout.

UWM will get a chance to turn things around right away as Day Two of the Coca-Cola Panther Invitational is set for Sunday (Sept. 11). Tulsa will face Wisconsin in the opener at 11:30 a.m. followed by the UWM-Penn matchup at 1:30 p.m.

Game Notes

* UWM has outshot all three of its oppenents in the 2004 season and hold a 54-26 total shot advantage

* Cliff Ellsworth made his first appearance of the season on Sunday

* Sunday marked the UWM debut for freshmen Chris Lins and Dan Zelasko

* Milwaukee is 0-2 in its last two season openers