Men's Soccer Weekly Release #2

Sept. 5, 2005

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September 5, 2005

Horizon League Player of the Week
Jeff Engelbrecht, UIC
Sophomore
Goalkeeper
Peoria, Ill.

Engelbrecht stopped nine shots to lead the Flames to a 1-0 victory over 24th-ranked Loyola Marymount in the opening round of the UC-Irvine College Classic. Engelbrecht's effort helped UIC overcome a 19-6 shot disadvantage en route to the victory. Engelbrecht registered 85 saves and one shutout as a freshman last fall for the Flames.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending September 4
Scott Olsen, Butler
Senior Midfielder
Algonquin, Ill.
Olsen helped lead Butler to the team title at the Bradley Holiday Inn City Centre Classic. He assisted on the match-winner in Butler's opening-round victory over Western Illinois and was named the MVP of the four-team tournament. He led the Bulldogs in scoring with 26 points last season.

Sasha Boskovic, Detroit
Sophomore Goalkeeper
Mississauga, Ontario
Boskovic posted back-to-back shutouts in the Jesuit Cup, blanking Xavier and Gonzaga for 110 minutes apiece. The sophomore closed the week with a 232-minute scoreless streak, dating to the end of Thursday's contest at Michigan, and tallied 14 saves in three appearances.

Dino Melitas, Loyola
Senior Forward
Chicago, Ill.
Melitas produced a goal and an assist in Loyola's 2-1 victory over Xavier on Sunday. His pass led to the tying goal early in the second half as LU rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit, and his 12-yard shot in the 85th minute gave the Ramblers a split for the weekend.

Joshua Okoampa, UW-Green Bay
Junior Forward
Brooklyn Park, Mich.
Okoampa netted three goals in lifting the Phoenix to a 2-0-0 start to the season. The junior forward hit the net twice to register his third career multi-goal effort during a 3-1 triumph over Eastern Illinois on Friday. He came back Sunday to add another marker as UW-Green Bay defeated Sacred Heart, 2-1, to win the Nike Classic championship.

Steve Bode, UW-Milwaukee
Sophomore Defender
Milwaukee, Wis.
Bode returned to the starting lineup after missing all of 2004 due to injury, bolstering a Panther backline which produced a 1-0-1 record last week at the Big Toe Classic in Madison, Wis. The captain also scored the Panthers' first goal of the season, hitting the net against Drake on Friday.

Tony Labudovski, Wright State
Junior Midfielder
Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Labudovski netted the Raiders' lone goal in Friday's 2-1 defeat at Cincinnati. The junior came off the bench in the first half, taking a pass from Jake Slemker and hitting the net to put Wright State ahead 1-0 at the time.

News From Around the League

Flames open Trask Era with victory over #24 Loyola Marymount
UIC made John Trask's head coaching debut a memorable one Saturday, defeating 24th-ranked Loyola Marymount, 2-0, in the first day of the UC-Irvine College Classic. Tonci Skroce andd Cesar Zambrano provided the offense for the Flames, and goalkeeper Jeff Engelbrecht preserved the lead with nine saves. His play was important for UIC, which was outshot 19-6.

Bulldogs, Phoenix also make strong starts with tournament victories
Butler posted a perfect 2-0-0 record and did not allow a goal in winning the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic at Peoria, Ill. The Bulldogs captured the tourney title by blanking Western Illinois and Bradley by identical 1-0 scores, with the latter result ending the Braves' eight-match winning streak in that tournament.

Roberto Gallo's goal midway through the second half was the only scoring in the contest, and Frank Peabody extended a personal shutout streak to 180 minutes and matched his shutout total (two) for all of 2004.

Four Bulldogs drew All-Tournament recognition, with MVP Scott Olsen joned by defenders Aaron Thompson and Patrick Reilly plus midfielder John Mariscalco.

In Green Bay, Joshua Okoampa turned the Nike Classic into his personal highlight reel with three goals as the Phoenix raced to a 2-0-0 start on the year. He posted two goals against Eastern Illinois on Friday and one more in a 2-1 victory over Sacred Heart on Sunday.

Underclassmen took care of the rest of the scoring for the Phoenix. Freshman Kyle Bartkus needed just 11:58 to score his first collegiate goal with a header in the Eastern Illinois contest, while sophomore midfielder Glenn Herzog scored the eventual match-wnner Sunday, breaking a 1-1 tie with his marker with 6:48 remaining in regulation.

Phoenix keep Sunday match all in the family
UW-Green Bay's contest versus Sacred Heart on Sunday also featured a family reunion of sorts as Phoenix goalkeeper Josh Loyd and his teammates prevailed over older brother Nick, the netminder for SHU. Josh Loyd made two saves in the contest to post his second victory of the season and push the Phoenix to a 2-0-0 start for the second year in a row.

Panthers get help from Dombrowski, Weiler en route to 1-0-1 start at Big Toe Classic
UW-Milwaukee enjoyed its share of success at Wisconsin's season-opening tournament, posting a 3-3 draw with Drake on Friday and a 3-1 victory over UNLV on Sunday. The defending League champions registered six goals in two contests, with senior forward Neil Dombrowski hitting the net twice versus UNLV. That one-day showing matched his total for the entire 2004 campaign, while junior Craig Mallace logged two assists versus Drake Friday night---one more than he had during each of his first two seasons at Milwaukee. He added a third helper in Sunday's match.

Eight different Panthers recorded at least one point in the two matches as the school is now 12-4-4 in ten appearances at the Madison event all-time, including an undefeated 6-0-3 ledger in six trips under veteran coach Louis Bennett. The three goals allowed versus Drake were the most by UW-Milwaukee since a 4-1 loss to Tulsa on Sept. 11, 2004.

Goals proving hard to come by when Titans take the field
Detroit endured a busy first week of 2005, playing three matches in a four-day span. And while the Titans have played more contests than any other Horizon League team, you wouldn't know it based on goal totals in the League standings. UDM has yet to score in 2005, going 290 minutes without a marker versus Michigan, Xavier and Gonzaga last week.

At the other end of the spectrum, Detroit's defense and goalkeeper Sasha Boskovic logged a pair of shutouts in overtimes draws against Xavier and Gonzaga, providing 232 minutes of shutout soccer since the second tally in Michigan's 2-0 triumph Thursday night. Detroit will have to wait a while to extend that streak as the Titans are off this week and do not play again until September 16 versus IUPUI.

Vikings struggle to find net on the road, but return to old home this week
Cleveland State collected a tie and a loss in the first week of play, but head coach Pete Curtis can find plenty of positives despite the one-goal showing. That one marker came from sophomore Tom Saad, who saw his first official actoin since suffering a season-ending injury early in his freshman campaign. The 5-0 score in Sunday's loss at Buffalo might also be deceiving, as the match was 0-0 through 65 minutes before the Bulls struck for three goals in a 3:44 span.

CSU's home debut versus Akron this Sunday carries added significance as it marks the team's return to Krenzler Field. The Vikings have not played on the Krenzler pitch since a 3-2 loss at Butler on Oct. 24, 2003, moving their entire 2004 home schedule to nearby Mentor, Ohio, while Krenzler underwent massive renovations.

Seniors help Ramblers salvage weekend split in Jesuit Cup
Loyola's weekend featured a 1-1-0 result at the Jesuit Cup in River Forest, Ill. The Ramblers fell to Gonzaga, 3-2, in Friday's season-opener, despite goals from senior Lee Zarzecki and junior Matt Marek. Those strikes were not enough against GU's attack.

Seniors Joe Nierzwicki and Dino Melitas provided the scoring in Sunday's 2-1 triumph against Xavier. The Musketeers claimed an early 1-0 lead before Melitas and Keun Sung Kim set up Nierzwicki's tying tally and Melitas pounced on a rebound for the match-winner at 84:51. Melitas' three points in that contest matched his entire 2004 production.

Raiders let lead slip away at Cincinnati
Wright State dropped its only match of the week, a 2-1 decision at Cincinnati on Friday night. The Raiders took a 1-0 lead on junior midfielder Tony Labudovski's goal but yielded two markers in the final ten minutes.

WSU was attempting to repeat the success of its 2004 debut, when a trip to the Ohio Riverfront produced a 2-1 victory at Xavier. The Raiders' home dates versus Bowling Green and Akron this week are WSU's lone appearances in Dayton until September 30.