Aug. 25, 2010

Box Score

WHITEWATER, Wis. - Freshman Jordan Record netted a hat trick in the second half and senior Robert Refai had a goal and two assists to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team to a 4-1 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in an exhibition game Wednesday night at Fiskum Field. The Panthers broke open a 1-1 halftime tie against the Warhawks with an offensive display of firepower and a strong defense to give Chris Whalley a victory in his first official game as the head coach of the squad.

"I know it sounds very cliché, but we took advantage of our chances," Whalley said. "I think we could have been up by more at halftime and we just took advantage of our chances in the second that we didn't in the first. Also, we defended a lot better as a team in the second which was pleasing. The guys worked hard, collectively, as a unit and because of that it helped us open it up on offense."

Milwaukee finished with 23 shots in the game, limiting UWW to seven overall and just two in the second half. Sophomore John Shakon made the start in goal and recorded five saves. Junior transfer Bryce Boyd played the second half and was not called upon to make a save. An own goal in the 36th minute was the only thing that prevented UWM from a shutout as well.

"We planned to just split time with the goalkeepers," Whalley said. "I think we have two really good goalkeepers. It's going to be a tough decision to make and is going to be of those things where someone is going to be disappointed and a very good keeper watching next week when we play Marquette. John made a couple of really nice saves in the first half and Bryce didn't have much to do, but that's what it is. We have to defend better as a team so that John doesn't have to make all of those saves. He stepped up and did well."

After subbing early in the second half, Record made an immediate impact. He netted his first goal in the 62nd minute, finishing a one-on-one breakaway following passes from senior Greg Rosenthal and sophomore Andrew Wiedabach.

Record then made it 3-1 in the 76th minute, cleaning up a Refai shot from the end line with a close-range header right in front. It was 4-1 when he one-timed another partially-saved Refai chance in the 87th minute and he nearly had a fourth strike, but sent a good chance high of the net with under a minute remaining in the contest.

"We created a lot of chances and put a lot of balls in the box," Whalley said. "We have some really good attacking players but we need to be more ruthless. We could have scored more. We probably had 15 good chances - we need to put more of those away and killing teams off. It was pleasing we scored four goals again though. Now we have to concentrate and keep a clean sheet as well."

The Panthers struck first, with Refai scoring in the 13th minute with a nice finish from a tough angle. After getting the ball at the end of the midfield circle, Rosenthal carried it forward through traffic, forcing the goalkeeper off his line. His touch made it past the goalie and to the far post, finding Refai deep on the end line on for the score.

Shakon put on a performance next, making five first-half saves, including a pair of spectacular stops to keep the Warhawks off the scoreboard at the time. After making two nice stops in close-range traffic in the 17th minute, Shakon made a full-out diving stop on a 15-yard shot to the far post off the foot of Trevor Swentik in the 20th minute. He then stopped a rocket from the top of the box, again from Swentik just 1:49 later. A free kick from the end line went off a UWM defender in the 36th minute to put the Warhawks on the board and make it 1-1 before halftime.

Wiedabach ended with a game-high seven shots, including three on goal. Record and Refai had five each. Swentik paced Whitewater with three of his own.