Panthers Offer Help During Campus Move In

Student-athletes, coaches and staff from the athletic department have been welcoming new students the UWM campus by participating in the on-going campus move in.

A number of full teams have provided assistance - including Chris Whalley's men's soccer team - but Tuesday it was time for some coaches and staff to do their part. Coaches from men's basketball, baseball, women's soccer and volleyball were among those that helped out Tuesday along with athletic director Rick Costello and other administrators.

A Note from the Baseball Team...

Former Panther baseball player Shaun Wegner recently completed his first season as the manager of the Sheboygan A's.

The official team website, www.sheboyganbaseball.org, just published a Question & Answer session with Shaun that I wanted to share.

Click HERE for the link.

FACT: Sarah Hagen owns Friday...

After seeing Sarah Hagen score two goals on each of the first two Fridays of the 2011 season, I got to thinking... "Doesn't she score a lot of goals on Friday?"

It turns out, there is something to that.

Hagen has played in 34 career games on Friday.
- She has two goals in each of the two Friday games this season (@ Michigan State, v. Long Beach State.

- She has scored 39 goals and assisted 11 assists on Fridays (72 goals, 18 assists total)

- She has at least one point in 29 Friday games

- Including both games this season, she has notched two-or-more goals in a game 12 times on Friday, including one hat trick.

On the other hand, she does have one 3-goal and two 4-goal games on Sundays...

I'll get back to you.

Schuh, Price Earn All-Tournament Honors

Kerri Schuh and Kayla Price were each named to the all-tournament team at the ASU Sheraton Classic following the conclusion of action this weekend.

Schuh, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Year, averaged 3.85 kills, 2.38 digs and 1.00 blocks for the Panthers in the three tournament matches. She reached double figures in kills in all three contests. Price, making her collegiate debut, averaged 9.54 assists per set while adding 34 digs and six kills.

UWM went 2-1 on the weekend, beating San Jose State and Denver while losing in four sets to Arizona State. The host Sun Devils also went 2-1 after being upset by San Jose Saturday night. The Spartans and Pioneers each went 1-2.

Match Report - Milwaukee vs. Denver

Match #3 – Milwaukee 3, Denver 2 (17-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-23, 15-13)

Full Match Recap and Stats

Player Of The Match: The Panthers had a number of excellent contributors in the five-set win by freshman Kayla Price stood out on offense and defense. Price directed the offense with 41 assists and then also added 17 digs in the back row.

Key Stats: UWM hit just .105 in the match so it needed every bit of defense it could find. The Panthers did come through, though, limiting Denver to a .114 hitting clip while Milwaukee tallied 13.5 blocks and 80 digs.

News and Notes: Taylor Golabowski had 12 digs to reach double figures in the category for the first time … Kayla Price’s 17 digs were a collegiate-high … Morgan Potter passed 20 digs for the first time this season, collecting 23 … the Panthers lost the first set in a match for the first time this season … UWM is now 23-12 in five-set matches under Susie Johnson … this was Milwaukee’s first-ever match against Denver.

Up Next: UWM heads back out on the road next weekend, playing at the Sheraton Inn Drake Invitational in Des Moines. The Panthers open play Friday afternoon against Wyoming.

Milwaukee v. Saint Louis Match Report

Milwaukee 3, Saint Louis 0
Aug. 28, 2011 – Engelmann Stadium (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Woman of the Match: Jamie Forbes. Jamie made four saves, including a pair of key stops. In the first half, after a free kick rocked the cross bar, she stopped the rebound to keep the game scoreless. It was a clutch save to maintain the momentum in a 0-0 game. Then, with the game in hand, she made a sprawling save to keep the Billikens off the board.

NOTES: This was the first-ever meeting between Milwaukee and Saint Louis ... Both of Kelly Lewers' goals have come as game-winners on back-to-back Sundays ... they were also assisted on by fellow freshmen ... Keara Thompson is now up to 10th in school history with 42 career points ... she is also up to 16 career assists ... Thompson and Sarah Hagen have teams on 18 goals in their careers ... Hagen now has 72 career goals and 162 career points ... Laurel Ragalie's goal was the 11th of her career, third-most among active players on the team ... the Panthers went 2-0 in the Milwaukee Cup for the fifth time, taking second on goal differential for the second time ... Milwaukee is now 10-1-2 in its last 13 games in the tournament ... UWM last started the season 4-0 in 2008, the year they started a school-record best 6-0 ... the shutout was the 11th of Forbes' career.

Iron Woman Watch (Played every minute this season): 360 minutes (Gillaspie, Kauffung, Forbes)

Up Next: The Panthers head to Minneapolis for the Minnesota Gold Classic next weekend. They play Iowa State Friday and host Minnesota Sunday.

Match Report - Milwaukee @ Arizona State

Match #2 – Arizona State 3, Milwaukee 1 (27-29, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22)

Full Match Recap and Stats

Player Of The Match: Kerri Schuh put together her second-straight solid overall match. She led the Panthers with 19 kills and added 11 digs while hitting .304. She seems destined for a spot on the all-tournament team.

Key Stats: The service line was again key in the match. UWM had just two aces but 11 errors, while Arizona State had six aces and eight errors.

News and Notes: After making a brief appearance in Friday night’s win, freshman Hannah Blanchard saw her first extended playing time at outside hitter. She wound up collecting 11 kills while hitting .321 … UWM had 62 kills to 59 for Arizona State, just the 11th time in 74 matches under Susie Johnson where the Panthers tallied more kills than their opponent but lost … this was UWM’s first meeting against a Pac-12 foe since 2008 and its first meeting ever against Arizona State

Up Next: UWM wraps up the tournament by facing Denver at 5:30 p.m. PST (7:30 p.m. Milwaukee time) tonight.

Match Report - Milwaukee vs. San Jose State

Match #1 – Milwaukee 3, San Jose State 1 (25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 25-22)

Full Match Recap and Stats

Player Of The Match: Kerri Schuh was solid all the way around Friday night. She led the way with 17 kills while adding six digs and five blocks. And, on a day filled with errors by both teams, she hit a solid .286.

Key Stats: Errors were the name of the game Friday night. The two teams combined for 54 hitting errors and 25 service errors. San Jose State had 18 service errors alone.

News and Notes: True freshman Kayla Price was the starting setter. At a glance, the last time a true freshman started at the setter position in the opening match of the season for the Panthers was 2000, when now-assistant coach Lindsey Vanden Berg made the start … the starting lineup also included redshirt freshman Julie Kolinske … freshman Taylor Golabowski entered the lineup to serve in the first rotation, giving Milwaukee three freshmen in the regular opening rotation … Kerri Schuh reached double figures in kills for the 43rd time in her career while Morgan Potter reached double figures in digs for the 37th time … UWM is now 2-3 in season openers under Susie Johnson … Milwaukee is 2-0 all-time against San Jose State.

Up Next: UWM plays two matches Saturday, facing Arizona State and Denver.

Milwaukee v. Long Beach State Match Report

Milwaukee 3, Long Beach State 2
Aug. 26, 2011 – Engelmann Stadium (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Woman of the Match: Keara Thompson. Keara started the scoring (in a way) and ended it in highlight reel fashion. She assisted on Sarah Hagen's goal after going around her defender and lacing a cross to the far post. Then, her blast in the 80th minute decided the game.

NOTES: Milwaukee is now 2-0 all-time vs. Long Beach State ... Sarah Hagen is up to 71 career goals and 160 points ... Thompson is now eighth in school history with 15 career assists and is 12th with 41 points ... the game-winner was her sixth career, ninth-most in school history ... Jamie Forbes surrendered her first goals at home since Sept. 25, 2009 ... Milwaukee is 3-0 for the third time in school history (2008, 1989) ... the Panthers are 9-1-2 in their last 12 Milwaukee Cup games.

Iron Woman Watch (Played every minute this season): 270 minutes (Gillaspie, Kauffung, Scott, Thompson, Forbes)

Up Next: The Panthers take on Saint Louis Sunday in the final game of the Milwaukee Cup.

Milwaukee vs. Lewis Match Report

Milwaukee 1 v. Lewis 0
Exhibition at Lewis (Romeoville, Ill.)

Man of the Match: In a 1-0 victory, it's pretty easy to give it to the guy who scores the goal, especially when the UWM defense limited Lewis to very few real chances. Cody Banks had the first couple of shots and then scored a beautiful long-range goal, firing over the keeper's head from nearly 40 yards away from the goal.

Statistics: Official statistics were not kept. I originally planned to run Stat Crew and GameTracker for the contest, but found out when we got there that we would be playing at their new facility - which really is not finished yet (see pictures below) and actually had no power supply at all. Since my computer battery was close to dead, I had no way to keep the stats either. By my hand-count, UWM led the shots category 10-to-6, including 5-to-3 in shots on goal. The Panthers also had three of the game's four corner kicks. Starter John Shakon made one save, Josh Rohde made one and Adam Hutchinson made a late team save at the goal line to preserve the 1-0 shutout.




Notes: The starting lineup featured John Shakon in goal and James Ashcroft, Aaron Gibbons, Ryan Whitehead and Zach Stevenson in the back line.

Midfield consisted of Alex Megna, Richard Johnson and Laurie Bell, with Cody Banks, Keegan Ziada and Robert Refai filling out the attacking positions. That makes 5 of the 11 starters as newcomers to the 2011 roster.

It seemed like everyone that was healthy played. Kevin Ferron and Kyle Neumann subbed on in the first half. Jamie Bladen, Adam Hutchinson and Ross Van Osdol came on at half and Pedro Mejia and Brandon Wolf were second-half substitutes.

Next: Season opener Friday against IPFW. See you there!

Milwaukee v. DePaul Match Report

Milwaukee 1, DePaul 0
Aug. 21, 2011 – Engelmann Stadium (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Woman of the Match: Kelly Lewers. She scored the game's lone goal 40 seconds into the game. That was an impressive feat. She nearly scored again with a header, but was called for a controversial foul. The goal was the first of her career and in her first home game.

NOTES: Sarah Hagen had scored in her previous four games, tied for the fifth-longest streak in school history ... Milwaukee is now 3-1 all-time against DePaul ... Waltenberger's 26-second goal came Oct. 27, 1998 ... Lisa Krzykowski had a goal 41 seconds into a game in 1994 and Megan Mann scored 49 seconds into a game in 2001 ... Jamie Forbes' shutout was the 10th of her career, fourth-most in school history ... Forbes has not allowed a goal at Engelmann Stadium since Sept. 25, 2009, a home shutout streak of 394:04 ... UWM is 2-0 for the first time since 2008, the last of three-straight 2-0 starts ... the Panthers are now 6-0-1 in its last seven home openers.

Iron Woman Watch (Played every minute this season): 180 minutes (Gillaspie, Kauffung, Scott, Thompson, Forbes)

Up Next: The Panthers host Long Beach State and St. Louis this weekend in the Milwaukee Cup.

Milwaukee v. Michigan State Match Report

Milwaukee 3, Michigan State 2
Aug. 19, 2011 – DeMartin Stadium (East Lansing, Mich.)

Womans of the Match: I may not do this a lot this season, but we have an offensive and defensive Woman of the Match today. Sarah Hagen gets the nod on offense with two goals and an assist. She was dominant when she had the ball, narrowly missing a hat trick twice in the second half, once by hitting the post. Makenzie Gillaspie stood out in an all-around defensive effort. All four defenders played well, but she made her presence known with a number of key defensive stops.

NOTES: Hagen scored a goal in her fourth-straight game, dating back to the last three games last season … today’s game followed the same script as the teams’ meeting last season with UWM getting a 3-0 lead in the first half and MSU with two in the second … Hagen now has 69 career goals and 156 points … she also upped her school record to 19 career game-winning goals … the Panthers are now 3-7 all-time against Michigan State, winning the last two meetings … four freshmen started the game—Emily Scott, Kelsey Holbert, Amy Kauffung and Kelly Lewers … Hannah Kaul also made her first collegiate start and played 86 minutes … Gillaspie, Kauffung, Scott, Holbert, Mary Wandolowski, Keara Thompson and Jamie Forbes played all 90 minutes … this is the fourth-straight season Milwaukee opened the season against a Big Ten team (3-0-1) and second-straight on the road (2-0).

Iron Woman Watch (Played every minute this season): 90 minutes (Gillaspie, Kauffung, Scott, Holbert, Wandolowski, Thompson, Forbes)

Up Next: The Panthers return home to host DePaul Sunday.

Live Blog: Milwaukee @ Michigan State

Women's Soccer's 2011 Regular Season opener at Michigan State.

Lindsay Laur Heading off to the World of Pro Hoops

Former Panther Lindsay Laur is headed to Puerto Rico to play basketball with the Carolina Giants after signing a professional contract earlier this week. She won’t have much time to get used to her surroundings, as the season opens Friday and she even thought she would probably go right from getting off the plane directly to practice.

She stopped by the SID office before she headed out and had a chance to talk about the opportunity.

“I feel like I want to keep playing as long as I love the game and stay healthy,” Laur said. “I feel like I honestly owe it to myself. I have a God-given talent to play, so I want to keep playing. If it comes to a point that I don’t love it, I will move on to the next chapter in my life. At this point it’s truly what I want to do for at least the next year or two.”

Laur also spoke about the possibility of playing in Europe in the future.

The former UWM star will miss her Panther teammates, but felt her career here in Milwaukee has really prepared her for this next step in her playing career.

“It is crazy how much you can learn in four years and it went so by quickly,” Laur said. “I am going to always give my best effort, to be disciplined in everything I do, pay attention to the details, and to persevere if things get tough.”

We will try and keep up with Lindsay with an update from time to time, but she already told me that the easiest way to follow her along the way in Puerto Rico would be to follow her on Twitter. Find her @LindsayLaur11.

Milwaukee v. Northern Illinois Match Report

Milwaukee 4, Northern Illinois 1 (Exhibition)
Aug. 14, 2011 – Engelmann Stadium (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Woman of the Match: Sarah Hagen scored two goals and assisted on a third over a 2:15 span and played just 12 minutes in the game. She tallied three goals (2 game-winners) and an assist in 57 minutes of play against Northwestern and Northern Illinois.

Notes: Milwaukee started and finished the game strong on defense with 12 shots on goal in the first half and four shots on goal in the finished the game with four SOG over the final 22 minutes ... Three freshman started both exhibition games against NCAA competition ... IF this was a regular season game, the 21 seconds between UWM goals would be the shortest time between Panther goals in school history, but exhibition stats don't count.

Next Up: The Panthers open the regular season Friday (Aug. 21) at Michigan State.

Milwaukee v. Northwestern Match Report

Milwaukee 2, Northwestern 1 (Exhibition)
Aug. 8, 2011 – Lakeside Field (Evanston, Ill.)

Woman of the Match

Morgan LaPlant - She scored the game’s first goal and nearly added a second in the second half. One of four starting freshmen, she was impressive in her first collegiate action.

Beyond the Box Score

- There were no stats kept… Sorry… I’m bummed about it, too.

Notes

- Four freshman started: LaPlant, Amy Kauffung, Kelsey Holbert and Emily Scott. Five more freshmen debuted off the bench.

- Kauffung played with the Panthers during the spring season.

- Counting the 2010 regular season, six games with the U.S. U23 Women’s National Team and today, Sarah Hagen has scored in 10-straight games. We could include the spring and her WPSL season, but the streak would not exist and what fun is that?

STARTERS: Jamie Forbes (GK), Mary Wandolowski, Kauffung, Hobart, Makenzie Gillaspie, Hagen, Scott, Keara Thompson, Hannah Kaul, Laurel Ragalie, LaPlant.

RESERVES: Sara Stern, Helen Steinhauser, Melanie Coderre, Vienna Behnke, Natalie Fettinger (GK), Kelly Lewers, Stephanie Condon, Emma Worthington, Lauren Jimenez.

Next Up

Two exhibition games this weekend, Saturday against a team of Panther alumni and Sunday against Northern Illinois. Both games will be played at Engelmann Stadium.