Join Assistant SID Chris Zills for a live blog from the press box at Emory G. Bauer Field in Valparaiso, Ind., for Saturday's doubleheader between Valparaiso and your Milwaukee Panthers. First pitch is slated for 12 noon.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Doug Dekoning Featured on Fox 6
Senior baseball player Doug Dekoning was recently featured on a Fox 6 Sports interview done by Jen Lada.
Friday, May 13, 2011
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.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Basketball Overseas Updates
A handful of Panthers have wrapped up another basketball season overseas.
Clay Tucker’s Real Madrid team actually has two regular season games remaining, with his squad 24-8 and in second place in the top-flight Spanish League.
Most recently, Real Madrid has been focused on Euroleague competition, which crowns the champion among all club teams in Europe. The team finished fourth in the season-long event after dropping games to Maccabi Tel Aviv and Montepaschi in the finals this past weekend.
In Spanish League play, Tucker is averaging 9.1 points per game, while in Euroleague play he averaged 9.0 points per contest. Overall, Tucker has played in more than 50 games for Real Madrid this season.
Tucker has also been writing a blog about Real Madrid this season.
Boo Davis’ Sunrise Scafati Basket team finished the regular season in Italy’s Lega2 at 19-11, claiming fourth place heading into the playoffs this weekend. Davis leads his team at 16.1 points per game while he has added 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest. He has also made over 50 percent of his field goal attempts and almost 40 percent of his three-point tries.
Dylan Page has battled through injuries while playing for Chorale de Roanne Basket in France’s top league. His squad is 18-11 and in fifth place heading toward the end of the season this weekend. Page has played in 13 regular season games, averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest while shooting better than 67 percent from the floor.
Ricky Franklin and Avery Smith also wound up back overseas toward the end of this past season. Franklin played in the final five games of the season for Lusitania Angra Patrimonio Mundial of Portugal, averaging over 12 points per game. Smith played the last four games for Antranik Beirut in Lebanon’s top league, averaging nearly 21 points and over five assists per game. His late-season appearances included a 31-point, 8-assist outing against Byblos.
Clay Tucker’s Real Madrid team actually has two regular season games remaining, with his squad 24-8 and in second place in the top-flight Spanish League.
Most recently, Real Madrid has been focused on Euroleague competition, which crowns the champion among all club teams in Europe. The team finished fourth in the season-long event after dropping games to Maccabi Tel Aviv and Montepaschi in the finals this past weekend.
In Spanish League play, Tucker is averaging 9.1 points per game, while in Euroleague play he averaged 9.0 points per contest. Overall, Tucker has played in more than 50 games for Real Madrid this season.
Tucker has also been writing a blog about Real Madrid this season.
Boo Davis’ Sunrise Scafati Basket team finished the regular season in Italy’s Lega2 at 19-11, claiming fourth place heading into the playoffs this weekend. Davis leads his team at 16.1 points per game while he has added 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest. He has also made over 50 percent of his field goal attempts and almost 40 percent of his three-point tries.
Dylan Page has battled through injuries while playing for Chorale de Roanne Basket in France’s top league. His squad is 18-11 and in fifth place heading toward the end of the season this weekend. Page has played in 13 regular season games, averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest while shooting better than 67 percent from the floor.
Ricky Franklin and Avery Smith also wound up back overseas toward the end of this past season. Franklin played in the final five games of the season for Lusitania Angra Patrimonio Mundial of Portugal, averaging over 12 points per game. Smith played the last four games for Antranik Beirut in Lebanon’s top league, averaging nearly 21 points and over five assists per game. His late-season appearances included a 31-point, 8-assist outing against Byblos.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Men's Soccer Gives Back to the Community
The Milwaukee men's soccer team took time out this spring to give back to the local community, participating in several community service projects throughout the semester.
“We said upon our arrival to Milwaukee we wanted to improve this team in all areas and we feel we are going in the right direction - on and off the field and in and out of the classroom,” UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. “For UWM soccer players, it’s important to understand how privileged they are to wear the black and gold and realize they are role models to lots of young people in this community.”
The team has devoted many hours this spring by getting out to local youth and soccer organizations and putting on various free clinics in all parts of the city for differing levels and age groups, which was enjoyable for everyone involved. They also took the time to have players and staff members donate used soccer gear and other clothing to the Journey House Recreational Center this past month.
“It’s always pleasing and rewarding to get the team out and engaged with the local community and as a program, we want to continue to develop these partnerships in the fall,” assistant coach Ben Shepherd said. “Hopefully, many of the youngsters that we had the privilege to work with will become future Panther fans!!”
At the end of March, the team spent a day helping out the MPS Adaptive Athletics program, where players took the time to try and pass on their knowledge and skills of soccer to over 300 participants during the “Special Olympics” event.
“The MPS Adaptive Athletics program is extremely appreciative for the time and efforts of the UWM soccer players and coaches that came out to help with our soccer clinic,” assistant recreation supervisor Anne McGinnity said. “We had 375 MPS athletes with disabilities benefit from their energy, patience, and knowledge of the game!”
The team then finished off its service efforts the day before its second-straight ‘Wisconsin Cup’ championship win by devoting their Saturday to helping with Habitat for Humanity. The players that participated helped out in the process of building five new houses in the local area.
“Being from the area myself, it is always nice to give something back to the community, especially to those less fortunate,” assistant coach Kyle Zenoni said. “I am proud of all the effort that the players were willing to put in this spring.”
“We said upon our arrival to Milwaukee we wanted to improve this team in all areas and we feel we are going in the right direction - on and off the field and in and out of the classroom,” UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. “For UWM soccer players, it’s important to understand how privileged they are to wear the black and gold and realize they are role models to lots of young people in this community.”
The team has devoted many hours this spring by getting out to local youth and soccer organizations and putting on various free clinics in all parts of the city for differing levels and age groups, which was enjoyable for everyone involved. They also took the time to have players and staff members donate used soccer gear and other clothing to the Journey House Recreational Center this past month.“It’s always pleasing and rewarding to get the team out and engaged with the local community and as a program, we want to continue to develop these partnerships in the fall,” assistant coach Ben Shepherd said. “Hopefully, many of the youngsters that we had the privilege to work with will become future Panther fans!!”
At the end of March, the team spent a day helping out the MPS Adaptive Athletics program, where players took the time to try and pass on their knowledge and skills of soccer to over 300 participants during the “Special Olympics” event. “The MPS Adaptive Athletics program is extremely appreciative for the time and efforts of the UWM soccer players and coaches that came out to help with our soccer clinic,” assistant recreation supervisor Anne McGinnity said. “We had 375 MPS athletes with disabilities benefit from their energy, patience, and knowledge of the game!”
The team then finished off its service efforts the day before its second-straight ‘Wisconsin Cup’ championship win by devoting their Saturday to helping with Habitat for Humanity. The players that participated helped out in the process of building five new houses in the local area.“Being from the area myself, it is always nice to give something back to the community, especially to those less fortunate,” assistant coach Kyle Zenoni said. “I am proud of all the effort that the players were willing to put in this spring.”
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Live Blog: Baseball at Iowa
Join Assistant SID Chris Zills for a live blog from the press box at Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa, for Wednesday night's contest between Iowa and your Milwaukee Panthers. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
Men's Soccer Finishes Spring With Wisconsin Cup Title
The Panthers wrapped up the spring season with a 6-0-3 record, claiming the Wisconsin Spring Cup this past weekend. Assistant coach Ben Shepherd again took some time to catch us up on the happenings from the final two games on the spring schedule.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday saw us make the short trip down to Valley Fields to compete in the Wisconsin Cup in two 70-minute matches, which was a fitting way to round out our first true spring season as a staff.
In the first game, we took on Marquette in the sixth annual Bob Summy Memorial Match and we have quickly learned that any time we play Marquette, there is a real rivalry and intensity to the game no matter the season.
The conditions were extremely difficult in the first half, as we played against a tornado-like wind which made it tough to get the ball down and play. And, in fairness, it was a scrappy half without too many incidents although Marquette was awarded a questionable penalty in the 28th minute which was put away well by Callum Mallace.
At half time, we were not too disheartened with our performance as we thought our guys had coped quite well with the conditions. We urged the boys to remain positive in the second half and have the belief, with the wind, to now get the ball down and play our way which we thought Marquette would really struggle to contain. We started the half well and really took the game to Marquette. Midway through the half, Ross Van Osdol delivered an excellent free kick from wide on the left, which Cody Banks rose well to head home; his seventh goal of the spring.
We continued to press forward and with four minutes remaining we were able to score the winner from the best move of the match, which involved some neat one-touch passing between Riley Weiner and Edison Crepso, which freed Van Osdol down the left wing. He delivered another excellent cross for Cody Banks to head home the winner as we saw out the remaining minutes to win the game 2-1.
Obviously it is always pleasing to beat a close rival and the way we played, especially in the second half in tough conditions, was the biggest positive to come out of the game. There were good performances from Van Osdol with two assists, Cody Banks with his two goals and John Shakon, who made two crucial saves while the game was tied at 1-1. Overall, it was a solid team performance, which helped us to get the result.
In the second game, we squared off against the University of Wisconsin, who beat Green Bay on penalties in their morning match. The relentless wind continued to make playing conditions tough, but credit must go to both sides who continued to try and still pass the ball and play attacking soccer. In the first half we again faced the wind, but dealt with it extremely well. We had most of the possession and play with Jamie Bladen and Cody Banks both going close to opening the scoring, but we went in at halftime tied 0-0.
In the second half, we continued to dominate the game and Riley Weiner was denied a goal by an excellent save from the Madison keeper and then moments later saw a header rebound off the post to safety. It seemed only a matter of time before we would break the deadlock, but, unfortunately the goal that our overall play deserved did not come and we headed to penalties for the second successive year to try and retain the Wisconsin Cup.
After missing our first penalty, John Shakon came up big for us, making two excellent saves, and we then scored our next four attempts which meant for the second-straight year, we earned the "Wisconsin Cup", which was a nice way to end the spring season.
As a staff we are happy with how things went and really feel that this group of players have developed and improved from the fall. Credit must go to all the players who have worked extremely hard, which has helped to make it a successful spring season where we remained unbeaten with a record of 6-0-3. Your support is, as always greatly appreciated, and now the hard work begins for the fall as we look to improve on last season and continue to take this program forward.
Thanks, have a great summer and we'll see you in August!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday saw us make the short trip down to Valley Fields to compete in the Wisconsin Cup in two 70-minute matches, which was a fitting way to round out our first true spring season as a staff. In the first game, we took on Marquette in the sixth annual Bob Summy Memorial Match and we have quickly learned that any time we play Marquette, there is a real rivalry and intensity to the game no matter the season.
The conditions were extremely difficult in the first half, as we played against a tornado-like wind which made it tough to get the ball down and play. And, in fairness, it was a scrappy half without too many incidents although Marquette was awarded a questionable penalty in the 28th minute which was put away well by Callum Mallace.
At half time, we were not too disheartened with our performance as we thought our guys had coped quite well with the conditions. We urged the boys to remain positive in the second half and have the belief, with the wind, to now get the ball down and play our way which we thought Marquette would really struggle to contain. We started the half well and really took the game to Marquette. Midway through the half, Ross Van Osdol delivered an excellent free kick from wide on the left, which Cody Banks rose well to head home; his seventh goal of the spring.
We continued to press forward and with four minutes remaining we were able to score the winner from the best move of the match, which involved some neat one-touch passing between Riley Weiner and Edison Crepso, which freed Van Osdol down the left wing. He delivered another excellent cross for Cody Banks to head home the winner as we saw out the remaining minutes to win the game 2-1.
Obviously it is always pleasing to beat a close rival and the way we played, especially in the second half in tough conditions, was the biggest positive to come out of the game. There were good performances from Van Osdol with two assists, Cody Banks with his two goals and John Shakon, who made two crucial saves while the game was tied at 1-1. Overall, it was a solid team performance, which helped us to get the result.
In the second game, we squared off against the University of Wisconsin, who beat Green Bay on penalties in their morning match. The relentless wind continued to make playing conditions tough, but credit must go to both sides who continued to try and still pass the ball and play attacking soccer. In the first half we again faced the wind, but dealt with it extremely well. We had most of the possession and play with Jamie Bladen and Cody Banks both going close to opening the scoring, but we went in at halftime tied 0-0.
In the second half, we continued to dominate the game and Riley Weiner was denied a goal by an excellent save from the Madison keeper and then moments later saw a header rebound off the post to safety. It seemed only a matter of time before we would break the deadlock, but, unfortunately the goal that our overall play deserved did not come and we headed to penalties for the second successive year to try and retain the Wisconsin Cup.
After missing our first penalty, John Shakon came up big for us, making two excellent saves, and we then scored our next four attempts which meant for the second-straight year, we earned the "Wisconsin Cup", which was a nice way to end the spring season.
As a staff we are happy with how things went and really feel that this group of players have developed and improved from the fall. Credit must go to all the players who have worked extremely hard, which has helped to make it a successful spring season where we remained unbeaten with a record of 6-0-3. Your support is, as always greatly appreciated, and now the hard work begins for the fall as we look to improve on last season and continue to take this program forward.
Thanks, have a great summer and we'll see you in August!!
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