Watching our former teammate in the Pros

About a week ago, our women's team took an evening away from the preseason training to head to Chicago and watch our former teammate Sarah Hagen (Apple, to us) and her new team FC Kansas City take on the Chicago Red Stars.

We pulled into the parking lot only to see a host of former Panthers and their parents tailgating and getting ready for the big game. 

Although Apple didn't start as her team already clinched second place in the playoffs, she came in during the second half. It was great to see her on the field again and get to watch some professional soccer. After the game, there was a giant crowd all waiting to see the former Panther. We chatted with her for a little bit before she was off signing autographs and taking pictures with some of her fans.

Here are a few photos from the night. 

8 Things About Sarah Hagen

As former Panther standout Sarah Hagen continued her training with the U.S. Women's National Team last week, the team put together a video to help people get to know the rising star.

While many of her answers will come as no surprise to Panther fans who saw her play, take a look and see what "Apple" had to say.

Hagen Earns First National Team Cap

Former Milwaukee women's soccer standout Sarah "Apple" Hagen earned her first cap with the U.S. Women's National Team Friday in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sweden as part of the Algarve Cup in Portugal.

While the loss is obviously disappointing, the future looks bright for Hagen, who came on in the 81st minute and helped create numerous dangerous chances against a stingy Swedish defense, nearly creating the equalizer.

U.S. Soccer caught up with head coach Tom Sermanni, Hagen and a few other players following Friday's match from Portugal.

Hagen Shows Off Her Talents

After continuing to produce at a tremendous level for her German club team Bayern Munich, former Milwaukee Panther women's soccer standout Sarah Hagen earned a call up to train with the U.S. Women's National Team.

While Hagen has demonstrated her talents on the field time and again, the former All-American had a little fun with her fellow national team trainees, showing off how much of the German language she's picked up in her time overseas.

Hagen Continues To Put Up Big Numbers In Germany

Former UW-Milwaukee women's soccer player Sarah Hagen continues to post some impressive numbers for her German professional team Bayern Munich. This past weekend, Hagen recorded a hat trick in a 7-0 road win over TSV Crailsheim in the second round of the Frauen DFB-Pokal (German Cup).

Her impressive efforts over the weekend didn't go unnoticed. Here are transcripts to two write ups on the game and Hagen's performance from Saturday:

From Wisconsin Soccer Central:
Sarah Hagen (Appleton North/UW-Milwaukee) certainly enjoys playing in the German Cup.

The striker posted her third hat trick in seven career matches in the competition as Bayern Munich routed host TSV Crailsheim 7-0 on Saturday in a second-round game of the Frauen DFB-Pokal.

Hagen closed out the scoring with goals in the 55th, 61st and 84th minutes as Bayern Munich cruised into the Round of 32, where they will play Nov. 16 or 17. She's scored 13 goals in German Cup play in her career, with hat tricks in each of her three seasons.

Bayern Munich (1-0-1) is one of four teams in the Frauen Bundesliga to have recorded four points from the first two league matches, but stands fourth in the 12-team league based on goal differential.

From Bavarian Football Works
The Bayern women were able to travel by bus to the city of Crailsheim, Baden-Württemberg, which is tucked just inside the state's border with Bavaria to play their first round match of the Womens' DFB-Pokal.

Erika Tymrak, Clara Schöne and Sarah Romert all made their first appearances in the starting squad in Sunday's contest as most of the team's players who represented their countries over the last week or so were given the day off against the weaker opponent.

Schöne made an immediate impact, scoring Bayern's first goal just 11 minutes into the match.

From then on, Bayern would net six goals, all from Americans, beginning with Erika Tymrak's goal two minutes after Schöne scored the game's first.

Amber Brooks followed suit three minutes later before Tymrak scored again at the half-hour mark.

After taking the four-goal lead into the locker room, Bayern made two changes which saw Rebecca Huyleur replace Katharina Baunach and Jenny Gaugigl replace goalscorer Amber Brooks.

Sarah Hagen then proceeded to score an old-fashioned hattrick in the second half with goals in the 55th, 61st and 84th minutes to complete the afternoon's goal rampage and make the Bayern Mädels winners by seven goals to nil.

Their second-round Pokal fixture will take place in early November.

The team returns to Bundesliga play next on Thursday away to SGS Essen, who knocked off favorites Turbine Potsdam in their Cup match with three goals in the final fifteen minutes to overcome a two-nil deficit. FCB then return home to play newly-promoted Cloppenburg at the weekend.

MLB Draft Starts Later This Week

The Milwaukee baseball team recently wrapped up the 2013 campaign, but if the past two years are any indication, there will certainly be at least one more press release coming...

The Major League Baseball Draft gets underway Thursday. And, with that, the Panthers look to add to their impressive streak. Over the past two MLB drafts, UWM has seen four of its players get selected, including the first multi-pick draft in 2012 when three players were tabbed by big league clubs.

Last year, Jordan Guth (Philadelphia Phillies; ninth round), Eric Semmelhack (Milwaukee Brewers; 12th round) and Paul Hoenecke (Los Angeles Dodgers; 24th round) were all selected. The season prior, Chad Pierce was drafted by the Brewers in the 38th round, giving Milwaukee more draftees in that time period than any other Horizon League school.

The team again has a few players who could be among those selected in 2013. Leading the way is redshirt sophomore Josh Uhen, who I have seen projected as high as a second-round pick.

Here is the LINK to the MLB Draft Preview of Wisconsin, by the Perfect Game website, which features Uhen.

I decided to do some research, to see just who the highest draft choice in Horizon League history was. According to what I found, here is the list of players taken in the first 10 rounds (please email me any additions if I missed anyone!).

1. Brad Hennessey, Youngstown State, 2001 First Round, #21 by the San Francisco Giants
2. Jason Henry, UIC, 1984 Second Round, #84 by the NY Yankees
3. Curtis Granderson, UIC, 2002 Third Round, #80 by the Detroit Tigers
4. Joe Smith, Wright State, 2006 Third Round, #94 by the NY Mets
5. Justin Thomas, Youngstown State, 2005 Fourth Round, #113 by the Seattle Mariners
6. Jeremy Hamilton, Wright State, 2008 Fifth Round, #166 by the Philadelphia Phillies
7. Pat Neshek, Butler, 2002 Sixth Round, #182 by the Minnesota Twins
8. Justin Parker, Wright State, 2008 Sixth Round, #198 by the Arizona Diamondbacks
9. Kyle Gaedele, Valparaiso, 2011 Sixth Round, #203 by the San Diego Padres
10. Jordan Guth, Milwaukee, 2012 Ninth Round, #308 by the Philadelphia Phillies

Hagen Helps Bayern Munich To German Cup Title

Former Panther Sarah Hagen scored the game-winner and assisted on an insurance goal to help Bayern Munich to a 2-0 victory over FFC Frankfurt in the German Cup final Saturday in Cologne.
Hagen's converted a header off a corner kick in the 65th minute to break a scoreless draw. She also set up Ivana Rudelic in the 90th minute by winning a header in the midfield and putting Rudelic 1v1 with the keeper.
The Cup title is Munich's first and came against a side in FFC Frankfurt that has won the cup 13 times since its inception in 1981.
See highlights of the match here. There is a photo gallery here and a post-game interview with Hagen below.
The Cup win continues a strong season for Hagen and Bayern Munich. Hagen signed a two-year contract extension with the club, which is in sixth place in the Frauen Bundesliga. She has scored a pair of goals during league play and added four goals in two cup games. She set Munich through to the finals with a hat trick in the semifinals last month.
Hagen was also one of three former Panthers plying their trades in professional leagues that we featured at uwmpanthers.com last week.

Apple Puts Bayern Munich in German Cup Final

Sarah Hagen netted her first professional hat trick Monday, scoring three goals and assisting on a fourth in Bayern Munich's 5-2 win over Hamburg in the semifinals of the Frauen DFB-Pokal. Munich moves on to the final May 12 in Cologne, where they will play FFC Frankfurt.

For a nice recap (in English), check out a story over at Wisconsin Soccer Central. The story also includes embedded highlights from the match that were posted on Bayern Munich's website. At the end of the video is an interview with Hagen.

Hagen has six goals so far for Munich, with a pair in Frauen Bundesliga action. The team is back in action April 15 against SC 07 Bad Neuenahr. Munich has picked up nine out of 12 points since Hagen has joined the team and currently tied for sixth in the league table, just two points out of fifth.

Photo from @Jimmy_Silvah

Edwards Named All-League Second Team in Switzerland

Former Milwaukee women's basketball player Traci Edwards was named to the All-League Second Team when Eurobasket.com released its All-Swiss National League A awards earlier this month.

Edwards wrapped up her third professional season, leading Canti Riva Basket to a third-place regular season finish and the semifinals of the LNA playoffs. She appeared in 24 games, averaging a double-double of 25.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. The Menasha, Wis., native finished fourth in the league in scoring and blocked shots (1.5 bpg), while sitting seventh in steals per game (3.3 spg) and eighth in rebounds.

Edwards wrapped up her third professional season since she graduated from Milwaukee in 2009. She played the previous season with Lukoil Neftochimik Burgas in Bulgaria, averaging a league-best 22.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Before Lukoil, she played with the Caboolture Suns of the Queensland Basketball League in Australia. There, she posted eight double-doubles, had two 30-plus point games and a 45-point outburst during the season.

The 2008 and 2009 Horizon League Player of the Year, Edwards finished her collegiate career as the leading scorer in Milwaukee, state of Wisconsin and Horizon League history. She was the first woman in school, state or league history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. In addition to her two player of the year awards, she was also a four-time all-league first-team member and the 2006 newcomer of the year.

Andy Thompson of the Appleton Post-Crescent talked to Traci in February about her pro career.

Edwards Does It Again...

Another big weekend by Traci Edwards netted her a second-straight Queensland Basketball League Player of the Week award.

The Caboolture Suns went 1-1 last week, falling to the second-place Gladstone Port City Power, 103-94, and topping the Bundaberg Bears, 98-66.

Against the Power, Edwards matched her UWM-record 45 points on 9-of-19 shooting and had 17 rebounds. Then, in a decisive win over the Bears, she had 28 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor and 10-of-11 from the free throw line.

Traci is sixth in the league is scoring (24.3 ppg), ninth in rebounding (10.5 rpg), second in field goal percentage (59.5%), fourth in free throw percentage (80.9%) and seventh in blocks (1.08 bpg).

Here is the link to the release.

Edwards Named QBL Player of the Week

Four months after her last points as a Panthers and I continue to promote Traci Edwards and her player of the week awards. I waited until she got her first Queensland Basketball League (QBL) P.O.W. honor to give you an update on her performance down under.

First, the award. She was the Round 13 Player of the Week after averaging 23.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in a pair of Caboolture wins last weekend. She was also 20-for-29 from the field in the two games. Against Ipswich Saturday, she had 23 points and eight rebounds. Then, in a 105-60 win over Cairns, she had 24 points and 10 boards in just 18 minutes.

Eleven games into her professional career and she is averaging 21.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. She has five double-doubles, including a 26-point, 19-rebound monster vs. Toowoomba (yes, that's the correct spelling) July 11. She is shooting 56.9 percent from the field on the year, including 32-for-46 (.696) over her last three games.

In the league, she is seventh in scoring, eighth in rebounding and second in field goal percentage.

As for Caboolture, the Suns are fourth in the QBL at 10-5 and have won four-straight games.

The release from the QBL is here.

Edwards Shines In Australian Debut

Contrary to the story I posted on uwmpanthers.com May 15, Traci Edwards, in fact, made her professional debut this past Saturday (May 30).

Her Caboolture Suns posted a 67-57 win over the Brisbane Capitals to move to 4-1 on the season.

As for Traci, it was a performance typical of her days in a Panther uniform: 30 points, 8 rebounds and 12-for-12 from the free throw line. She also hit on 9-of-16 from the field in 33 minutes.

At 4-1, the Suns sit in second place in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), having won their last four contests.

There was anticipation of her arrival, as the local press was touting her as a "secret weapon" before the team's first game with her on board.