Former Panther Student-Athlete Hired at Holy Cross

Ricky Babcock, a former baseball player at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has been hired as the assistant director of athletic facilities at the College of Holy Cross.

Click HERE to read the full release.

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.

Milwaukee Seeding Scenarios

It's actually pretty straightforward for the Panthers as they look toward next week's league tournament. Three of the four possibilities put Milwaukee as the fifth seed, with two scenarios where Detroit is the opponent and two where Youngstown State would come to Milwaukee.

The four possibilities:

Clinches No. 5 seed with YSU win AND Detroit loss
UWM, YSU finish 7-9; teams split regular season, 1-1. UWM owns the best win moving down standings with 1-1 record vs. Green Bay
Milwaukee 5th, Youngstown 6th, Oakland 7th and Detroit 8th

Clinches No. 5 seed with Oakland win AND Detroit win
UWM, OU, DET finish 7-9; UWM is 3-1 vs. OU/DET, OU is 2-2 vs. UWM/DET, DET is 1-3 vs. UWM/OU
Milwaukee 5th, Oakland 6th, Detroit 7th and Youngstown 8th

Clinches No. 5 seed with Oakland win AND Detroit loss
UWM, OU finish 7-9; Milwaukee swept Oakland in regular season
Milwaukee 5th, Oakland 6th, Youngstown 7th and Detroit 8th

Clinches No. 6 seed with YSU win AND Detroit win
UWM, YSU, DET finish 7-9; teams all have 2-2 records vs. each other. UWM, DET both 1-1 vs. GB, 0-2 vs. CSU, 1-1 vs. WSU. DET is 1-1 vs. Valpo, UWM 0-2. YSU eliminated from tie-breaker due to 0-2 record vs. GB
Detroit 5th, Milwaukee 6th, Youngstown 7th and Oakland 8th

Postgame Report: Cleveland State at Milwaukee

Game #26 – Milwaukee 90, Cleveland State 78

Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Game: Angela Rodriguez was terrific. At the start of the game, when she wasn't scoring, she was continuously finding teammates with great passes for easy baskets. At one point, she had 9 assists and 0 turnovers when the game was still yet to be decided. She finished with 26 points and 10 assists for the fourth points/assists double-double of her career - and third this season.

Rodriguez joined Scott Warras following the contest as his "Star of the Game", hear that interview HERE.

Play of the Game: The game was back-and-forth from the start, with 10 lead changes in the first half alone. In case there was any doubt about the second half and the victory, the Panthers took care of it with - what else - the three-point shot. When CSU seemed to be giving things one final run in the second half, trimming the lead back under 10 for the final time - UWM responded with a triple from Emily Decorah and one from Rodriguez on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead back to 15 and take care of business.

Key Stats: The Panthers shot close to 50 percent and won a few key statistical areas. They tallied a 43-40 advantage in rebounds - the first time they won the rebounding battle in 9 games. They also had just 9 turnovers compared to 21 assists. The turnover story was key. They had just one in the first half and only a handful until the final minutes when the Vikings continued to press with the game out of hand.

News and Notes: Freshman Bre'Zall Warren set a career-high with 17 points - topping the former mark of 13 that she set twice earlier this season. Rodriguez netted 26 points to reach 1,501 in her career - just the 6th UWM player to score 1500-plus in program history.

Up Next: It's off to Ohio for a final matchup against Wright State, a team that just happens to now be part of the three-way tie at the top of the Horizon League standings at 9-3.

Porcaro Featured in "IAMUWM" Video

Junior Mike Porcaro of the Milwaukee baseball team was the latest student-athlete to be featured in an IAMUWM video spotlight on UW-Milwaukee's homepage.

Watch it here:

Former UWM Soccer Player Signs With Wave

Former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer player Bryce Boyd recently saw one of his dreams come true - to play professional soccer - when he signed with the Milwaukee Wave.

The full article from the Wave website (HERE) is also below:

WAVE SIGNS GOALKEEPER BRYCE BOYD

MILWAUKEE (Jan. 31) — Once a Milwaukee Wave camper and later a staff coach, goalkeeper Bryce Boyd is now a player for the Milwaukee Wave after signing a contract with the team Wednesday.

Boyd, a native of Mequon who played at the University of San Francisco for three years and then at UW-Milwaukee in 2010, joins the roster with veteran Nick Vorberg headed to injured reserve due to a hand injury. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Boyd made six starts and seven total appearances at UWM with a 1.36 goals-against average.

“I started as a camper back in the day, went to games with my family,” Boyd said. “My first jersey was a Victor Nogueira jersey. To finally become a signed player is a dream come true.”

Boyd has been training with the team for two years and is familiar with the players and Coach Keith Tozer's system.

“We're fortunate to have a player of his ability who's fit, knows the system and can help us while Nick is on IR,” Tozer said.

Vorberg is 3-1 in four appearances this season, but has not played since Dec. 13. Marcel Feenstra is 7-1 in goal for the Wave and is third in the MISL with a 10.52 points allowed average.

The Wave (10-2) visit St. Louis (4-10) at 1:35 p.m. Saturday with hopes of maintaining its slim lead on Baltimore (10-3) in the league standings.

Postgame Report: Valparaiso at Milwaukee

Game #20 – Milwaukee 85, Valparaiso 80

Full Recap and Stats

Player Of The Game: Avyanna Young. Incredible. Ridiculous. Fun to watch. Valpo had no answer for her and she was on fire all day. The 36 point-effort is one of the best I have seen in years.

Young joined Scott Warras following the contest as his "Star of the Game", hear that interview HERE.

Play of the Game: The Panthers seemed to have the game in control all day, but could never pull away from the Crusaders even after building the lead to as many as 11. Valpo actually rallied in the second half and tied the game on 3 occasions - at 56, 58 and 60. Emily Decorah's swished 3 from the corner on the next possession turned the tide and started UWM on its winning run that put the game away for good.

Key Stats: The Panthers shot over 50 percent for the game for the first time this season. They made 29-of-53, 54.7 percent. Milwaukee only had 8 turnovers in the game, second-fewest in school history.

News and Notes: Sophomore Jordyn Swan earned the first start of her UWM career today. She started impressively, collecting 2 points, 2 rebounds and an assist before the first media timeout. Angela Rodriguez made 8 more free throws today and has now made 39 in a row. She has not missed since before Christmas (for real!).

Up Next: It's off to Michigan for a two-game road swing to Oakland and Detroit.