Men's Soccer Preview, Part 7: Milwaukee

Aug. 23, 2007

Head coach Jon Coleman can describe the 2006 season with numerous words and phrases: "Unexpected. Growing pains. Learning experience. Bewildering. Disappointment. Wake-up call." One thing is for sure - Coleman had the opportunity to deal with adversity in his first season at the helm of the UWM men's soccer team a year ago. A season full of ups and downs saw the team finish 8-9-2 on the year. But, eight of the nine losses were by one goal, including three to Top 25 teams (1-0 to No. 2 SMU, 2-1 in overtime to No. 6 Washington and 1-0 to No. 12 UIC).

Twelve games into the season, the Panthers sat at a very uncharacteristic 3-8-1 overall on the year, including an 0-2 start in Horizon League games for the first time since 1998. Coleman persevered, dug deep and righted the ship, going 5-0-1 in the final six games of the regular season to get to 8-8-2 overall and excited about making a run in the League Championship.

But then, Butler pulled a 2-1 upset in the quarterfinals, ending UWM's streak of five-straight tournament championship appearances and NCAA Tournament invitations. After having such an impressive postseason streak come to an end, Coleman and his squad are eager to prove that 2006 was truly nothing but a fluke.

"I think you can see it in people's eyes that they are really hungry to get back at it and get after it this season," Coleman said. "We are excited to be going again and I think at the same time it's important to carry that into our games in 2007. The attitude is just a refocus. It is a transition for our coaching staff to playing the way we want to play with players that have a better understanding of how we want to play. By no means is the 2007 season seen as a rebuilding year in anyone's eyes."

Despite graduating five seniors who all earned various league postseason honors in their Milwaukee careers, Coleman knows the Panthers are in good hands. The team returns eight starters, including both goalkeepers who combined to give up just 16 goals in 17 games a year ago.

"As far as going into the 2007 season, we have a solid core of guys coming back and we have been able to maintain the majority of our back five - Grant Fernstrum is there, Ryan Germann is there, Chris Lins, Steve Bode (below), Nkuti Ndely played quite a bit before getting hurt, Travis Phillips ... we have quite a group coming back from our senior class through the rest of the squad," Coleman said.

Add to that list an impressive recruiting class of 14 newcomers, and UWM thinks it has just the right mix to add its list of regular season titles (four), league tournament championships (four) and NCAA Tournament appearances (five) it has enjoyed since the start of the 2001 season.

"We have an inspiring group of guys that are coming in to make a difference and compete for playing time," Coleman said. "So, I think it's going to take on kind of a new look, but it's going to consist of a lot of guys competing for playing time and there is going to be a lot of competition in spots. The newcomers will play a big key for us in winning a lot of games during the regular season and to go deep into the NCAA Tournament. We will be relying on 18-20 guys to get it done for us as a whole."

One of the biggest issues that will need to be addressed is who will score goals for the Panthers. After finding the back of the net 46 times in 2004 and 38 times in 2005, UWM recorded 26 goals last year, with returning players accounting for only 16 of those. The team was shut out six times - five times by a score of 1-0 - and scored one goal in five others. They played in eight games that ended in 1-0 scores, winning three of them.

"Obviously, going into the season we are going to have to create better opportunities to score goals," Coleman said. "You have to score goals to win games. Defensively, I feel we are pretty sound and we've done pretty well. Last season, eight of the nine losses were by one goal, so we were in every game and it was just a matter of scoring a goal here or scoring a goal there that would have made a difference."

Goal production will involve a combination of new and old, as UWM will count on Colin Baker (team-high four goals in 2006), Dan Horst (two goals) and Martin Castro (three goals/two assists) to pick up the slack of the graduated Craig Mallace (team-high 12 points), Steve Sperl (three goals/two assists), Billy Meier (three goals/two assists) and Dale Weiler (23 career assists/43 career points).

"As far as potential guys coming in, John Jenkins has proven he can do it at the junior college level, Elliott Dunn is one of the top goal scorers in the state, Peter Sanger, Robert Refai, the Gibbons brothers (Abe and Aaron) ... they have all put up good numbers - they can all help us in the midfield," Coleman said.

Newcomers will have the opportunity to step in, and they have some outstanding high school statistics to fall back on. Raphael Martinez (17 goals, seven assists), Dunn (13 goals, 17 assists/leading scorer in Muskego High School history) and Ben Chavers (17 goals, 12 assists) all bring impressive resumes, as do the Gibbons brothers. Abe was named "Mr. Soccer" in Minnesota last year after scoring 19 goals and adding 31 assists. Brother Aaron led Minnesota in scoring his final two seasons, striking for 29 goals and 30 assists as a senior. Jenkins, the lone transfer, has already proven he can finish at the college level, scoring 35 points (13 goals, nine assists) in just 14 games at the College of DuPage (Ill.) last year. Refai comes to UWM from Sweden and will add the help up front the Panthers need.

"With some of the personnel coming in, that's going to help the offensive situation," Coleman said. "But also, the production we get from some of the guys that are on the squad now is going to have to improve. Some guys have just started to scratch the surface. But, coming from last season, we need to improve on that and obviously look to get better. For our wingers, we would love to see three goals and 10 to 12 assists, and our forwards we need 10 goals and three to four assists and for our attacking midfielders we would like to see eight to 10 goals and eight to 10 assists."

Defense has long been a trademark of Panther soccer and 2007 will be no different. Milwaukee returns two goalkeepers who made starts between the posts last season in Grant Fernstrum and Ryan Germann.

"We have the personnel to play some exciting soccer and play the way that we want to play," Coleman said. "The defense is what wins you championships and I think our defensive scheme really fits our squad well. The appetite to defend is there and we need to do it exceptionally well, especially considering the competition we will be up against all season long."

Fernstrum struggled with some hard-luck losses last year, but gave up just 11 goals in 11 games if you take away a 3-0 loss to Tulsa in the season opener. On the year, he posted a goals against average of 1.11 and a 3-7-2 record.

Germann burst on to the season with a 1-0 blanking of Michigan in his first start in a Milwaukee uniform Oct. 13 and proceeded to reel off three-consecutive shutouts. He did not allow a goal in his first 368:28 of the season, finishing with a 4-1-0 record, including a .920 save percentage and 0.40 goals against average.

"In the spring season, Fernstrum really came on strong and is back in form we saw his freshman year [when he led the nation in goals against average]," Coleman said. "That's what we need. But, it's still going to be competitive now they come in after the summer. And throw freshman Sam Alexander into the mix, they will be duking it out. Germann, at times, has played very well and I think, just like this past fall, if the opportunity comes up he is going to be ready to step up."

Other catalysts on defense include three-year starter and team captain Bode (18 games/18 starts, one goal, one assist), Lins and Phillips (who were the only two players to start all 19 games a year ago). They will be instrumental in helping ease the loss of Meier, who was a First-Team All-League selection, the League's Defender of the Year and a vocal team captain.

"Steve Bode is the catalyst and he's going to pick up right where Billy left off," Coleman said. "They really complemented each other in the past, but you really need one guy to take ownership of the back four and that's Bode's job and he is prepared to take on that responsibility. He has shown the talent and ability in his career to do that. He will continue as our only captain and is just a really strong presence back there. Billy gave us stability in back and gave us a scoring threat coming up on set pieces. It's going to be Bode, without Billy, but it's still going to be good."

The Panthers begin their 2007 regular season with a trip to Madison for the Badger's tournament, playing Western Michigan in the season opener Aug. 31 and Tulsa Sept. 2. Then, it's on to California for a trip to take on defending national champion UC Santa Barbara Sept. 7 and Cal Poly Sept. 9.

The Panthers will also head to the east coast for a trip, playing in the Dartmouth Classic in late September against host Dartmouth and Yale.

"Bob Spielmann and Chris Dadaian [of the UWM coaching staff] and the players have worked extremely hard in the off-season and progressed well," Coleman said. "We have worked hard to find the right players that will provide us with the talent and depth we will need."

The team will open the Horizon League slate against Valparaiso at home Sept. 29th, looking for a return to the top of the standings after consecutive 4-2-1 campaigns.

"We feel like we got the `hiccup' out of the way last season and now it's time to get back on track," Coleman said.

Story provided by UWM Office of Sports Information