Panthers Close Out Spring Season With Decisive Wins
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (April 30, 2008) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team closed out its 2008 spring season with a pair of decisive wins over Big Ten foes last Sunday in Evanston, Ill. The Panthers first defeated Iowa, 3-1, before downing host Northwestern, 3-0. Milwaukee wrapped up its spring slate with a 4-1-2 record, including five games against teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Big XII. "I'm very pleased with the progress we made this spring. The spring season is not generally about getting results, but rather it is about getting players experience and trying new things," UWM head coach Michael Moynihan said. "We came into the spring focused on playing an attractive style of soccer that emphasizes ball possession and combination play in the attack. We also needed to gain experience in our defense. We graduated three key defenders and lost a fourth defender from our successful 2007 campaign. Claire Watkins was a very talented freshman that started for us as central defender, but has a very unfortunate medical condition that will prevent her from continuing with us and we will miss her tremendously. So we had a lot of holes to fill and a lot of question marks about our defense." Milwaukee also scored wins this spring against league foe Loyola and at St. Louis. The Panthers also played to draws with state rivals Wisconsin and Marquette and suffered their only loss at nationally-ranked Missouri. "I think we were able to successfully address all these areas this spring and we also earned results in the process," Moynihan said. "We put together a challenging schedule and emerged with an impressive 4-1-2 record. In every game we were able to possess the ball, generate chances, and dictate the flow for extended periods of time. So we leave the spring feeling very good about the work we put in and the progress that we made. We also feel very optimistic and can't wait to get back together again in the fall. I think we have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming 2008 season."
Against the Hawkeyes, freshman Nicole Hirsch scored a pair of goals to provide the difference and sophomore Louise Vraney tallied an insurance goal to put the game away. Hirsch got the scoring started in the first half, but Iowa tied the game at 1-1 minutes later. She then picked up the game-winner before halftime and Vraney made it a 3-1 match in the second half. Three different Panthers scored against Northwestern and junior Erin Kane picked up the shutout in goal. Sophomore Kate Megna struck first on an assist from freshman Nicole Sperl. Vraney then chipped in her second goal of the day and freshman Erin DeYoung made it a 3-0 game with a score of her own. "It was great way for us to end the spring season," Moynihan said. "Up to this point in the spring we played some great soccer and dominated matches, but we haven't been able to score multiple goals in a game. Sunday, we played good soccer. We showed good composure on the ball, had some beautiful combination play and we were able to hold the ball for some extended periods of possession. Most importantly however, we able to convert our chances and we scored some very nice goals." Kane played the whole game against Northwestern, finishing up the spring season without surrendering a goal. Meanwhile, freshman Leslie Deebach picked up the win in game one, allowing just the one score. |
