Aug. 29, 2012

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team once again welcomes back a time-honored tradition to the home schedule, hosting Canisius, IUPUI and Eastern Illinois for the 38th Panther Invitational this weekend, the longest-running in-season Division I soccer tournament in the United States.

UWM Game Notes

Eastern Illinois and Canisius will get things underway Friday, followed by UWM taking on IUPUI under the lights at Engelmann Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Sunday's games will see a Canisius-IUPUI matchup starting at noon, followed by the Panthers taking on Eastern Illinois apporoximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first match.

All four games will be available on GameTracker via the Panthers website at uwmpanthers.com. In addition, each and every match will be broadcast live on the Horizon League Network.

2012 Panther Invitational--Schedule of Games
Friday, Aug. 31, 2012
Eastern Illinois vs. Canisius, 5 p.m.
Milwaukee vs. IUPUI, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012
IUPUI vs. Canisius, noon
Milwaukee vs. Eastern Illinois, 2:30 p.m.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
IUPUI: The IUPUI men's soccer team has been picked to finish fifth in the Summit League according to the preseason coaches poll. Head coach Isang Jacob's squad brings back five starters and 10 letterwinners from a team that won six games in 2011 (6-10-2). Second Team All-Summit Leaguer Kyle Hyland keys the group of returners, having delivered a team-high four assists a year ago. Joshio Sandoval made 17 starts last season while forward Ian Block also returns after scoring a pair of goals a year ago.

EASTERN ILLINOIS: The Eastern Illinois men's soccer team was picked to finish seventh in the Summit League Preseason Poll after a 7-9-1 campaign in 2011. EIU returns two of its three all-conference selections a year ago in Jake Brillhart and Will Butler. The Panthers also return the bulk of their offensive output from last season. Of the 62 points (20 goals, 22 assists) EIU scored last year as a team, the Panthers return a group of players (including five sophomores) that contributed 43 of those points (12 goals, 19 assists).

CANISIUS: A new era of Canisius College men's soccer was ushered in during the 2011 season. First-year head coach Dermot McGrane led the youngest team in the MAAC - one that featured only one senior and 11 players who made their collegiate debuts and that went through its up and downs, experiencing some growing pains throughout a 4-14-1 campaign for the Golden Griffins.
Note: UWM will not play Canisius.

HISTORY IS ON UWM'S SIDE
The Panthers have not played the part of gracious tournament host in the past 37 versions, owning a 52-20-2 all-time record in the event while earning the tourney title in 22 of 37 tries. After claiming the team title in 2011, UWM has been the champion in this event in seven of the last 13 years it was held.

FOR OPENERS
Milwaukee is now 18-17-5 all-time in season openers, including a 13-12-3 ledger in road openers after the heartbreaking 3-2 loss at Marquette Aug. 24. Prior to a win in 2010, the Panthers had been a bit jinxed in their season opener the past few years, not having come out on top since the 2003 season in going 0-4-2 from 2004-09.

Head coach Kris Kelderman had one season opener under his belt at the collegiate level prior to last week. A year ago, his Green Bay squad topped SIU Edwardsville, 1-0.

GOOAAAALLLL!!!
Through two games, the Panthers lead the Horizon League in goals scored with four and shots (by a large margin, 39-26) and have featured an entertaining brand of soccer for the fans to watch.

Sophomores Laurie Bell and Zach Stevenson are tied for the league lead in shots taken, with junior Robbie Boyd fifth with five and freshman Dorian O'Lochlayne giving UWM four of the top nine with his four shots.

FRESHMAN IMPACT
Freshman Declan Rodriguez did not take long to make an impression as a Panther. Inserted into the lineup at halftime of the game against Marquette, he tallied the first goal of his career just 25 minutes later to give UWM a 2-1 lead at the time. Then, against Northern Kentucky, his header off a corner kick tied the game, 1-1, before Milwaukee would go on to prevail.

He is one of just two players in the Horizon League to score a pair of goals on the opening weekend, topping the conference in goals and points as the week starts.

THE BATTLE FOR THE MILWAUKEE CUP
Milwaukee and Marquette play for the "Milwaukee Cup", one of the longest-standing rivalries in all of college soccer. In fact, in the summer of 2011, the College Soccer News website published a list of what they called "The Fourteen Greatest Rivalries in College Soccer." Weighing in at No. 10 on their list was the Milwaukee Cup.

Despite the heartbreaking loss Aug. 24, the Panthers certainly have the upper hand all-time, posting a 27-10-3 record in the series. They had posted back-to-back wins the past two seasons, reclaiming the Cup in 2010 with a 4-2 victory and keeping possession in 2011 with a 2-1 final score.

THEY HAVE ALL OF `EM
Speaking of the "Milwaukee Cup", it is one of the three traveling trophies that the Panthers play for each and every season. In addition, Milwaukee takes on Green Bay for the "Chancellor's Cup" and also play Northern Illinois for the "LeWang Trophy". In 2011, UWM posted wins in all three games (2-1 over Marquette; 3-2 in double-overtime against Green Bay and 1-0 against NIU) to hold all three trophies for the first time since the start of the 2005 campaign.

EXHIBITION SEASON REWIND
Milwaukee played just one exhibition contest against outside competition, falling to DePaul, 1-0, Aug. 20. The Panthers outshot the Blue Demons and had plenty of scoring chances, but could not find the back of the net and a goal scored directly off a corner kick in the 59th minute proved the difference.

VIDEO COVERAGE EXTENDED
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will stream 29 home fall sporting events live through the end of October as part of the Horizon League Network. The 29 events during the first two-plus months of the school year mark just the beginning of an extensive streaming schedule for the Panthers through HLN.

Matt Menzl and Nate Lisko return as the two main voices of Panther athletics in the fall. Menzl will call the majority of soccer matches while Lisko will be the voice of Panther volleyball. In addition to the volume of home events, many of UWM's league road events are also available through the Horizon League Network via broadcasts from the host institution. Live streaming of home events is just one part of UWM's extensive online video presence. The Black and Gold Network - the You Tube channel for Panther athletics - will again provide a variety of features, previews, postgame interviews and highlights. Last school year, the Black and Gold Network produced over 300 video features with more than 50,000 page views. Those broadcasts are produced by the home school, with a full listing of those events available at horizonleague.com.

PANTHERS FOUND THE OFFENSE
Overall in 2011, the Panthers featured one of their highest-powered offenses in quite some time. Their 79 points led the Horizon League, with their 1.5 goals per game (27 total goals) second and 1.39 assists per game ranking at the top of the conference. For perspective, UWM scored 17 goals in 2010 and had just 12 total over the course of the 2009 campaign. The team also recorded 272 shots - a total that also placed second in the league.

COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS TABS BOYD
Junior Robbie Boyd earned some national recognition when the website "College Sports Madness" announced its Preseason All-Horizon League squads. Listed among the 22 members of the first and second team was Boyd, selected as a first-team honoree at forward.

WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE
There will be plenty of chances for newcomers to make an impression in 2012, as 16 players out of the 32 on the roster will be putting on a UWM uniform for the first time this season.

In addition to the players that have never put on a UWM uniform before, one addition will be welcomed back. Junior Andrew Wiedabach will return after a season away. Wiedabach has a resume that includes Horizon League All-Newcomer status as a freshman and then first-team all-league honors in 2010 when he led the team in points (13), goals (4), assists (5) and shots (58).

MORE WITH COACH KELDERMAN
Look for a weekly audio podcast of the "Kris Kelderman Show", as we sit down weekly with Kris to revisit the week that was and talk about the upcoming schedule. The first episode was made available Aug. 21 and will follow with a new episode every Monday during the course of the 2012 campaign.

The show is available as a link off the main UWM website page or directly at www.uwmpanthers.cstv.com/genrel/podcasts.html.

UWM'S NEW HOME TURF
A new synthetic playing surface was installed at Engelmann, giving the Panthers a FIFA Two-Star Field, with the new Polytan playing surface the first of its kind in North America.

Engelmann Stadium has been the home of Panther soccer since the 1970's, and soccer supporters have been stepping forward to help with improvements to what is considered one of the best college soccer environments in the country.

ON TAP
The Panthers prepare for their first road trip outside of Milwaukee next, heading to Ohio to take on Xavier Sept. 9.