Mary Wandolowski
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Panthers Return Home To Start League Play Friday
Milwaukee closes out non-league schedule with Northwestern Wednesday
This Week In Panther Soccer
Game #11: Northwestern (5-2-1) @ Milwaukee (7-1-2)
Wednesday, Sept. 24 • 7 p.m. • Engelmann Field
Gameday Media: Gametracker
Game #12: Green Bay (2-2-2) @ Milwaukee (7-1-2)
Friday, Sept. 26 • 7 p.m. • Engelmann Field
Gameday Media: Gametracker
• Complete Release in PDF Format 
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Sept. 23, 2008) - After four games and two weeks on the road, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team returns home to close out its non-league slate and get league play underway. The Panthers host Northwestern Wednesday before welcoming Green Bay to Engelmann Field Friday for their Horizon League opener.
The "Silver" Anniversary
The Panthers are playing their 25th season as a varsity sport. The team will be celebrating the occasion all season long, recognizing outstanding achievements and moments in UWM women's soccer history. The squad will also be wearing special patches commemorating the season.
Getting Noticed
Milwaukee continues to sit on the minds of national pollsters. This week, the Panthers appear around the NSCAA national poll for the fifth-straight week, receiving votes for the fourth time. They have 76 points and are the first team left out, just 16 points behind No. 25 Kansas. UWM also pops up at No. 25 in the NationalSoccerRanking.com poll. Milwaukee has also moved up to No. 3 in the NSCAA Great Lakes Region poll, leap-frogging perrenial national power Penn State.
A Look At The Opposition - Northwestern
The Wildcats are the third-straight opponent the Panthers will face that has been receiving votes in the NSCAA at the time of the game. Northwestern is off to a 5-2-1 start and coming off a 0-0 draw with St. Louis last weekend. NU is averaging two goals per game, led by Amanda Hoffman's five goals. Two players, meanwhile, have tallied four assists apiece. In goal, Carolyn Edwards has played every minute for the Wildcats this season and has two shutouts.
A Look At The Opposition - Green Bay
Green Bay kicks off the league season unbeaten in its last four games (2-0-2). Last week, the Phoenix tied Nevada, 0-0, and defeated Oakland, 2-1. Laura Hayward paces the offense with two goals and five total points. Freshman Maddie Drusch has played every minute in goal for GB this season and has two shutouts. High school teammate of Panther freshman Chelsea Colling, Drusch has a 0.78 goals against average and has made 42 saves in six games.
Series Histories
Milwaukee and Northwestern have met eight times, while the Phoenix is one of three opponents UWM has faced a school-record 24 times entering the season. The Wildcats hold a slim 4-3-1 series edge, thanks to a 1-0 in the first game of the 2005 season. The Panthers are 11-2 against Green Bay since 1996 and have won the last four meetings in the series.
Addendum To (A Series) History
It should also be noted that the Panthers are unbeaten in their last six games against the Big Ten Conference (4-0-2).
Last Week In Review
Friday - Milwaukee 2, Boston University 0
Freshman Sarah Hagen and junior Kate Megna scored goals to give Milwaukee a 2-0 win over Boston University Friday at the Minnesota Gold Classic. The duo helped the Panthers avenge a 1-0 loss to the Terriers last season.
Sunday - Milwaukee 2, Brown 2 (2ot)
The Panthers played to a 2-2 draw with Brown Sunday on the final day of the Minnesota Gold Classic. With the draw, they finished second at the tourney. Senior Sarah Teegarden and Kate Megna each tallied goals as UWM overcame an early 1-0 deficit.
M-V-P ... M-V-P ... M-V-P
Kate Megna was named the Offensive MVP at the Minnesota Gold Classic, the team's second tourney MVP this season. Sarah Hagen earned MVP honors at the Milwaukee Cup to start the season. Both players also earned all-tournament honors at each tournament, as has senior Sarah Teegarden. Freshman Keara Thompson rounded out the Milwaukee Cup representatives, while freshman Mary Wandolowski was also honored in Minnesota.
Gonna Need More Than One Shelf
The Panthers' awards have not been limited to all-tournament teams. Kate Megna was named this week's Horizon League Player of the Week, an award Sarah Hagen earned Aug. 25. Hagen has also been named to three national teams of the week, including the Soccer Buzz National Elite Team of the Week Sept. 1 and Sept. 8. She pulled double-duty Sept. 8, also appearing on Soccer America's team.
Wasting No Time
Through just 10 games, Sarah Hagen has tallied 10 goals and 21 points. She has already scored the most goals in a season by a Panther since 1997. In fact, her 21 points would have led any UWM squad since 2001.
Those Goals Add Up
It's no surprise that Hagen leads the team and even the league in goals and points. But, she is tied for third in the nation with 10 goals and is fifth with 21 points.
Like All Good Things...
Hagen scored at least one goal in each of her first seven collegiate games. Ignoring the fact that she is doing all of this as just a freshman, she established a school record for consecutive games with a goal. Sept. 5 she surpassed Betsy Ribares' school record of four-straight with her fifth. Her streak is also second in school history for consecutive games with a point.
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner
Of Hagen's team and league-high 10 goals, four have come as game-winners. That total is one back of the school record of five, achieved four times. Sarah Teegarden is the last Panther to notch five winners in a season, doing so in 2006, while sophomore Nicole Sperl picked up four last season.
State Champs
UWM pushed its unbeaten streak against state schools to eight games (7-0-1) with wins over Wisconsin and Marquette already this season. The Panthers have not lost to one of the three other Division I schools in the state since 2005. They went 3-0 in 2006 and 2-0-1 last season. They own three-straight wins over the Badgers and four-straight over Green Bay. And, finally, Milwaukee has defeated Marquette in 2006 and 2008, with the two teams tying in 2007.
Home, Sweet Home
The Panthers are 5-0 at home this season and currently own a 16-match home unbeaten streak (13-0-3). They also have a streak of 30-straight regular season home games without a loss (25-0-5). And, if you include post-season contests, the team is still an impressive 28-1-6 at home over its last 35 home matches. Milwaukee is also unbeaten in their last 28 league home matches (27-0-1), dating back to Oct. 11, 1998.
League Run
UWM enters 2008 with a 30-game league unbeaten streak in tact (28-0-2). The streak became a league record during the 2006 season. The previous record also belonged to Milwaukee, a 21-game (20-0-1) stretch that immediately preceded the current streak. Since 2000, the Panthers are 48-1-3 in league play. Lastly, it must be mentioned whenever UWM plays Green Bay that it was the Phoenix that last defeated the Panthers in league play, a 2-1 overtime thriller during the 2003 season in Green Bay.
Overtime Warriors
Milwaukee did not play a single overtime match over the first six games of the season only to play three in its last four contests. The Panthers tied New Mexico last Friday to equal the NCAA record for consecutive overtime games without a loss. UWM had not lost an overtime match since Sept. 12, 2004, a span of 24 games (10-0-14). According to research by the Bradley University sports information office, the Panthers tied its men's team's streak from 2000-06. The streak then came to an end two days later against UNLV. Senior Erin Kane played a huge part in that record, not conceding a goal in overtime over the first 326:37 of overtime play in her career before Sunday. Of her 40 career shutouts, 15 have included some overtime.
Soccer Captain
With three wins the week of Sept. 3-7, head coach Michael Moynihan became the winningest soccer coach in UWM history. He surpassed Louis Bennett with his 137th career win that Friday and picked up No. 138 on Sunday. Bennett coached the men's team from 1996-05. He and Moynihan, who is now up to 139 career coaching wins, are two of the four coaches to eclipse 100 career soccer coaching wins in school history.
Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's Got 40
Senior Erin Kane picked up shutout No. 40 Friday against Boston University. She is the only player in school and league history to crack the 30-shutout mark and reached 40 in just 71 games.
Helping Hands... Er... Feet
Kate Megna is tied for the team lead with five assists this season, upping her career total to 13, tying her for seventh in school history. Junior Erin Kreuser is right behind Megna with four assists this season and 12 in her career, 10th-most in school history. Kreuser has, however, already tied the school record for career game-winning assists with seven after picking up two this season. Megna is one back, having assisted on six game-winners.
We Are The Champions
Earlier this season, the Panthers claimed their second-straight Milwauee Cup title. They defeated Ohio State 4-3 on Aug. 27 and Samford 4-2 on Aug. 29 to claim the title. For the third-straight year, co-hosts UWM and Marquette each went 2-0, but this is the second in a row the Panthers claimed the title on the goals scored tiebreaker.
Prognosticators Pick Panthers
For the ninth consecutive year, Milwaukee has been picked to win the Horizon League in the annual preseason coaches' poll. The Panthers garnered seven first place votes and tallied 63 points. Loyola, which finished second to UWM last season, was picked second with two first-place nods and 58 total points. Milwaukee has won the last eight league regular season crowns.
Streaking
The Panthers enter the 2008 season having won the last eight Horizon League regular season titles. The streak is the second-longest in the nation, behind only Penn State's streak of 10 Big Ten titles.
2007 Revisited
While the 2007 season did not end in the NCAA Tournament like Milwaukee hoped it would, it still was another successful season for the Panthers. They went 13-4-4, won an eighth-straight Horizon League regular season championship and advanced to the league title game for a league-record ninth time.
A Few Extra Notes
• Sarah Hagen scored the game's first goal just 59 seconds after the opening whistle on Aug. 29 against Samford. It was UWM's first goal inside the first minute of play since Megan Mann got the scoring started at the 49-second mark Sept. 9, 2001, at Valparaiso.
• After Ohio State knotted the game at 3-3 on Aug. 27, Nicole Sperl converted the go-ahead goal just 18 seconds later on a penalty kick. It was the third-fastest response goal in school history.
• Sarah Hagen was the third Panther freshman to score two goals in her collegiate debut, following Louise Vraney in 2006 and Katie Waltenberger in 1997. This season also marked the third-straight season-opener in which a freshman scored, including Sarah Talbert's first career goal last season.
• Vraney has scored on the opening day of each of her three seasons, including Aug. 22 against Wisconsin. No other player in team history has scored on opening day more than once.
• UWM defeated Toledo, 3-0, in their only intercollegiate exhibition match. Freshman Laurel Ragalie scored two goals in the match.
• Sarah Hagen assisted on all three goals against Toledo, including twice while playing as the team's emergency goalkeeper in the second half.
Megna's Memoirs Part Deux
Junior Kate Megna is once again providing her take on the Panthers' season as it goes on, via an online blog at uwmpanthers.com. At the start of every week, Megna looks back on the weekend of action and shares the inside story of the Milwaukee women's soccer team. Visit uwmpanthers.com for the latest installment, which is posted on Monday afternoons. Fans can also follow along with all of UWM's sports at the Verizon Wireless Panther Blogzone. The Blogzone is the perfect place to get a little extra information on your favorite Panther teams.
Next Up
The Panthers return to the road for two-straight weeks, becoming fully immersed in the league slate. Milwaukee heads to Chicago to take on Loyola Friday, before continuing on to Dayton, Ohio, for a Sunday afternoon match with Wright State.
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