The Last Meeting Loyola 1   Milwaukee 2 2ot October 10, 2012 Engelmann Stadium Steinhauser Nabs Golden Goal To Lead Milwaukee To Win Helen Steinhauser scored the golden goal with just 23 seconds remaining in the second overtime to send the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Loyola Wednesday evening at Engelmann Stadium. The Panthers (4-7-1, 3-2 Horizon) have now won back-to-back games for the first time this season, while remaining in the hunt near the top of the league standings with their third league win. Recap | Box Score

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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Oct. 31, 2012) - Four-time defending Horizon League Tournament Champions, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team opens this year's installment in the semifinals Friday, hosting Loyola at 7 p.m. The top-seeded Panthers and No. 6 Ramblers face off with a trip to Sunday's championship game on the line. The winner will face the winner of No. 2 Detroit and No. 5 Wright State Sunday at 1 p.m. Milwaukee has made 13 title game appearances, winning eight tournaments all-time.

What's New?
The Panthers close out the league slate with four-straight wins to secure the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for this weekend's league tournament. They claimed a share of a 13th-straight regular season crown.

Champions!
With last Friday's 5-0 win over Cleveland State, Milwaukee pulled into a tie atop the league standings at 5-2 and earned a share of its 13th-straight regular season title. That streak is the second-longest in NCAA Division I history as Penn State picked up a 15th-straight Big Ten title earlier this season.

Home Field Is The Best Field
Earning the No. 1 seed and hosting rights is key for UWM, as it is 10-1-1 all-time at home in league tournament play. The Panthers have won league titles in 2002, 2009 and 2011 on their home field, while also reaching the championship game in 2007. Despite a loss to Wright State at home this season, Engelmann Stadium has been a fortress for Milwaukee, as it is 51-3-2 (.929) against league teams at home since 2000.

About Loyola
The Ramblers are seeded sixth in the tournament, but paid no mind to seeds in knocking off No. 3 Valparaiso Tuesday evening in the first round. They enter the weekend at 8-8-3 on the year and finished 2-3-2 in league play. Moriah Schwartz leads the offense with three goals and eight points, while three players have two goals and eight different Ramblers have found the back of the net. Monica Gonyo has been solid in net for Loyola, posting a 0.95 goals against average and eight shutouts in nearly 1,700 minutes of action.

The Other Side
UWM is playing for a spot in Sunday's title game against the winner of No. 2 Detroit and No. 5 Wright State. The Titans claimed the second seed as league co-champions. They boast the league's offensive player of the year in Kaitlyn Quarrell, one of four UDM players with a team-high four goals. The defense is anchored by the goalkeeper of the year in Nora Abolins. Her stats include nine shutouts and a 0.52 GAA.

Wright State got a golden goal in the 93rd minute at Youngstown State Tuesday to fight its way into the semifinals. The Raiders are led by league newcomer of the year Ini Umotong on offense and defensive player of the year Lauren Patterson on defense. Umotong led the league with seven goals and 16 points this season. Patterson and helped Brooke McCurdy's cause in goal. An all-league second-team goalkeeper, McCurdy has a 0.67 GAA and seven shutouts on the year.

Series Notes
Milwaukee leads the all-time series with all three potential tournament opponents, including 20-2-3 against Loyola ... the team is also 16-7-2 vs. Detroit and 20-7-5 against Wright State ... the Panthers defeated Loyola (2-1, 2ot) and Detroit (2-0) in the regular season, but fell to WSU (0-1) on a last-second goal in double overtime ... in tourney play, UWM is 6-1-2 against the Raiders, 2-0-2 vs. Loyola and 1-4-1 against UDM ... the Titans are the only league team with a winning record against the Panthers in tournament play.

Tournament Success
Milwaukee has found great success in the Horizon League Championship, posting a league-best eight titles. The team has advanced to the championship match 13 times in 18 seasons all-time and is 6-4-3 in the finals. Overall, the Panthers have won nine-straight tournament games and are unbeaten in their last 12 (11-0-1). In 18 tournaments, UWM is 27-7-6, including a 12-4-1 record in the semifinals. As a side note, Wright State is a possible opponent in the tourney final after the Raiders knocked off Milwaukee in the regular season. The Panthers are 7-1 against teams that defeated them in the regular season and have avenged their last three league losses coming into 2012 by scores of 6-2, 2-0 and 5-0.

Awards Season
For the fourth-straight season, the Horizon League Player of the Year came from UWM as Helen Steinhauser earned the award this week. She also repeated as an all-league first-team selection. She was joined on the all-league teams by four sophomores, including Kelsey Holbert and Kelly Lewers on the first team and Krissy Dorre and Amy Kauffung on the second team. Kauffung was also a second-team selection as a freshman in 2011.

Players of the Week
Sammy Vovos closed out the regular season as the league's final offensive player of the week this week. She made her first collegiate start last weekend on Senior Day and nabbed the game-winning goal in the fifth minute against Cleveland State. She also added an assist in helping the Panthers to a decisive win that clinched a share of the league regular season crown. The award was the first of her career and team's fifth this season. Krissy Dorre earned her first honor the week before on offense, while Hannah Kaul was a first-time honoree on defense Oct. 7. To open the season Amy Kauffung (offense) and Jamie Forbes (defense) game UWM a sweep. It was Kauffung's first weekly honor, while the award was Forbes' third.

Welcome Back
Sammy Vovos scored her first goal of the season against St. Bonaventure. It was a triumphant return to the field for the fifth-year senior. Vovos last scored a goal Oct. 26, 2009, at Green Bay. She then missed the next two seasons with two separate injuries. She played in her first game since 2009 in the season opener vs. South Carolina. Vovos has added three more goals this season, including one in each of her last two games, to push her season total to a career-high four.

Quick Study
Sara Zawacki has appeared in just two games this season, but has scored a goal each time. When she played the final 13 minutes against St. Bonaventure, in her collegiate debut, Zawacki became the fifth player in school history to score a goal in her UWM debut and the first since Sarah Hagen in 2008. She is just the second to score off the bench, joining Katie Waltenberger in 1998, who also debuted in the second game of the season. When she found the back of the net against Cleveland State last Friday, she joined Hagen as the only Panthers to score goals in each of her first two college games.

Back-to-Back Jacks
When Milwaukee won back-to-back games for the first time this season Oct. 3-10, Helen Steinhauser scored the game-winning goals in both games. At Valparaiso Oct. 3, she broke through in just the fourth minute for a goal in the 1-0 win. Then, a week later, she found the back of the net with 23 seconds remaining in the second overtime period against Loyola to send UWM to another win. She is the first Panther with back-to-back game-winners since Sarah Hagen had a five-game streak last season.

Tough Road Ahead... Er... Behind
Milwaukee's 2012 schedule shaped up to be another tough slate as the team played three nationally-ranked teams, plus two others that spent multiple weeks in the rankings. After a scoreless draw against preseason No. 24 South Carolina Aug. 17, UWM played No. 13 Marquette and hosted No. 13 Wisconsin. The Panthers close out their non-league slate Oct. 21 against Oklahoma State, a team ranked in the top 25 for much of the season. Milwaukee has two wins and six draws in 36 games all-time against ranked opponents.

New Man On Campus Head coach Greg Henschel is in his first season leading the Panthers. He came to Milwaukee from UW-Whitewater, where he racked up 290 wins and 11 NCAA Tournaments in 13 seasons leading both the men's and women's programs. In 2011, both the men and women claimed league titles and NCAA Tournament berths.

Panthers Picked First in Preseason Poll For the 13th-straight year, Milwaukee topped the Horizon League Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Panthers, who received five first-place votes and 44 points in the poll, shared the top spot with Detroit, which garnered the remaining three first-place nods. UWM has won 12-straight league regular season titles, while Detroit finished second in the league a year ago. Valparaiso was picked third and Wright State, which fell to the Panthers in the league title game, fourth.

The Mighty 300 Both head coach Greg Henschel and the Milwaukee women's soccer program are closing in on monunental win milestones. Henschel entered the season with 290 wins and now is just four shy of 300. Meanwhile, the Panthers came into 2012 with 286 all-time wins and are now eight off the mark.

Home, Sweet Home Milwaukee is always excited to see games at Engelmann on its schedule, as the team has an undeniable home field edge. The Panthers have a 56-9-6 record at Engelmann since 2005, including a 24-game unbeaten streak (21-0-3) that came to an end in 2009. That streak is tied for the 14th-longest in NCAA Division I history. UWM also had a regular season league home winning streak reach almost 12 years and 37 games (36-0-1) before ending in 2010. All-time, the Panthers are 53-6-1 at home in league play.

Back in Black (& Gold) The Panthers returned six starters in 2012, led by seniors Jamie Forbes and Helen Steinhauser. Forbes was voted the top keeper in the region last season, while ranking up a 0.67 GAA and 11 shutouts. Steinhauser is the top-returning scorer with four goals and five assists (13 points) last season. She returns in a midfield that boasts sophomore starters Kelsey Holbert and Amy Kauffung.

A Field By Any Other Name...
The Panthers' home field hasn't changed, but the name has. Milwaukee now calls its home Laura Moynihan Field at Engelmann Stadium. A new synthetic surface was put in place in 2010 and it was renamed Laura Moynihan Field last season, honoring the former women's soccer coach. The facility retained the Engelmann name in the form of "Engelmann Stadium." All references to Milwaukee's home stadium should be "on Laura Moynihan Field" or "at Engelmann Stadium."

Up Next
Milwaukee is playing for a spot in its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament. The selection show is Monday, Nov. 5 with the first round to follow that weekend.