UW-Milwaukee draws Bradley to open NCAA Men's Soccer Championship

Nov. 14, 2005

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Horizon League champion University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee begins the chase for the 2005 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Friday evening (Nov. 18) versus a familiar foe in Bradley University. The first-round contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (Central time) at Bradley's Shea Stadium in Peoria, Ill.

The match is one of 16 first-round contests taking place on campuses across the country this weekend. The winners of those matches move on, taking the first step toward gaining the championship which will be presented on Sunday, Dec. 11, at SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary, N.C.

Friday's battle represents a re-match from a Sept. 13 meeting, when the Panthers scored three goals in a 12-minute span midway through the second half to rally from a 1-0 deficit and defeat the Braves, 3-2, at Engelmann Field in Milwaukee. Junior forward Steve Sperl posted the first two Panther markers and junior forward Dale Weiler's goal in the 74th minute proved to be the difference as BU scored with just over five minutes left to play. UWM outshot the Braves 19-8 and owned a 9-0 advantage in corner kicks in that match.

The winner of Friday's match travels to Albuquerque, N.M., to face second-seeded University of New Mexico on Tuesday evening. The Lobos (15-1-2) are ranked second in the latest NSCAA/adidas national coaches' poll. The University of Maryland (15-4-1) carries the top seed into the national summit, with two-time defending national champion Indiana University (13-2-6) third and the University of North Carolina (15-3-3) fourth.

Two teams will be making their first appearance in the tournament: (America East Conference champion) Stony Brook University and (Atlantic Sun Conference titlist) Stetson University. The Atlantic Coast Conference led all leagues with eight teams earning bids, while the Big East Conference had seven. The Pacific-10 Conference, Ivy League and West Coast Conference each had three representatives.

UW-Milwaukee earned the League's automatic berth into the 48-team field with its 1-0 victory over top seed University of Detroit Mercy in Sunday's (Nov. 13) final of the 2005 Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship. UWM entered the League tournament as the second seed with a 4-2-1 loop record in the regular season before posting three consecutive 1-0 victories to climb to 13-4-4 overall and capture a fourth consecutive League title. Weiler netted the eventual match-winner in the 63rd minute of the championship match.

The Panthers make their fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament (including an at-large berth in 2001), making UW-Milwaukee one of 14 schools to reach the Field of 48 in each of the past five seasons. The University of Virginia, making its 25th consecutive appearance, holds the longest current run (since 1981), followed by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) at 23 (including 2005), Indiana at 19, plus Creighton University and St. John's University---each making a 14th consecutive trip.

The Panthers have registered 11 shutouts this season, including four in a row to enter the NCAA Tournament. Freshman goalkeeper Grant Fernstrum has nine of those whitewashes in 14 appearances since taking over the starting job and currently ranks among the national leaders with a 0.40 goals-against average. He has not allowed a goal in the last 360 minutes since Oct. 26.

Offensively, the Panthers have outscored their opponents 34-16 this season, including 18-5 in the first half. Senior midfielder Neil Dombrowski tops the UW-Milwaukee scoring charts with nine goals and 22 points while junior defender Craig Mallace's 18-point line features a League-high ten assists plus four goals. Sophomore defender Steve Bode (five goals, 11 points) and Sperl (four goals, four assists) provide support for the attack, which has seen 11 different players score goals and 15 players register assists this season.

The Panthers have been shut out only twice in 21 matches this season: a scoreless tie versus the University of Illinois at Chicago on Oct. 12 and a 1-0, overtime loss to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Oct. 26. The UWGB contest marked the team's last defeat and continued an unfortunate trend for the Panthers, who are 0-3-4 in overtime contests this season. That mark includes defeats against Fairleigh-Dickinson (2-1 on Sept. 11) and Michigan (2-1 on Oct. 20) in addition to the loss to UW-Green Bay. By contrast, UWM is 13-1-0 in matches decided in 90 minutes. Detroit is the only team to defeat the Panthers in regulation, posting a 2-1 decision on Oct. 2.

UW-Milwaukee is one of only ten teams to post victories in each of the last three NCAA tournaments, defeating the University of San Francisco 3-2 in the first round of the 2004 national summit before falling 2-1 to Santa Clara University. Only the University of California, the University of California at Santa Barbara,UCLA, the University of Connecticut, Creighton, Indiana, Maryland, the University of Portland and St. John's can match UWM's three-year run of NCAA tournament victories. Portland did not qualify for the 2005 tournament.

UW-Milwaukee's women's soccer team also captured a Horizon League championship and represented the League at the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. The Panthers defeated Purdue University in penalty kicks before falling to cross-town rival Marquette University 1-0 in the second round, capping a 12-5-5 season. UWM is one of only five schools to have both its men's and women's soccer teams earn automatic NCAA tournament berths. Hofstra (Colonial Athletic Association), Dartmouth College (Ivy League), Creighton (Missouri Valley Conference) and UCLA (Pacific 10 Conference) are the others.

NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Pairings

First-Round Games: November 18-19 --- Second-Round Games: November 22 - Times TBA
Rhode Island (13-7-2) at Brown (10-4-2), Nov. 19, 12 p.m. --- URI-BU winner at (#1) Maryland (15-4-1)
Marist (10-8-1) at St. John's (9-5-5), Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m. --- MU-SJU winner at (#16) Dartmouth (10-2-5)
Robert Morris (11-7-1) at West Virginia (12-7-2), Nov. 19, 1 p.m. --- RMU-WVU winner at (#9) Akron (17-1-2)
Stony Brook (12-4-4) at Yale (10-3-4), Nov. 18, 6 p.m. --- SBU-YU winner at (#8) Connecticut (15-3-1)
San Francisco (11-5-4) at So. Methodist (10-5-3), Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m. --- USF-SMU winner at (#5) UCLA (12-4-3)
James Madison (12-6-2) at UNC Greensboro (15-5-0), Nov. 18, 7 p.m. --- JMU-UNCG winner at (#12) Virginia Tech (10-5-4)
Stetson (9-10-1) at South Florida (12-6-1), Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m. --- SU-USF winner at (#13) Virginia (12-4-2)
Providence (6-3-9) at Hofstra (14-4-3), Nov. 18. 7 p.m. --- PC-HU winner at (#4) North Carolina (15-3-3)
Western Illinois (6-9-4) at Notre Dame (10-7-3), Nov. 18, 7 p.m. --- WIU-UND winner at (#3) Indiana (13-2-6)
Coastal Carolina (11-8-1) at Clemson (11-5-3), Nov. 18, 6 p.m. --- CCU-CU winner at (#14) North Carolina State (11-6-1)
Hartwick (13-5-1) at Seton Hall (12-3-3), Nov. 19, 1 p.m. --- HC-SHU winner at (#11) Penn State (12-6-2)
Lafayette (13-4-2) at Creighton (12-4-3), Nov. 18, 7 p.m. --- LC-CU winner at (#6) Duke (12-4-3)
Ohio State (11-7-2) at Santa Clara (12-6-2), Nov. 18, 7 p.m. --- OSU-SCU winner at (#7) California (13-3-2)
South Carolina (12-6-2) at Wake Forest (11-7-2), Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m. --- USC-WFU winner at (#10) Old Dominion (15-3-2)
San Diego State (9-3-6) at UC Santa Barbara (12-4-3), Nov. 19, 1 p.m. --- SDSU-UCSB winner at (#15) Cal St. Northridge (14-3-3)
UW-Milwaukee (13-4-4) at Bradley (15-5-1), Nov. 18, 7 p.m. --- UWM-BU winner at (#2) New Mexico (15-1-2)

Third-Round Games: November 26-27 - on campus sites
Quarterfinals: December 2-4 - on campus sites
Semifinals: December 9 - at SAS Soccer Stadium, Cary, N.C.
Championship: December 11 - at SAS Soccer Stadium, Cary, N.C.

Note: NCAA seeds in parentheses