MACOMB, Ill. - The Fighting Leatherneck men's soccer team (0-1-1) will travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend for the 37th annual Panther Invitational.
Western Illinois will take part in two matches in the tournament. First against hosts Milwaukee (0-1-0) on Friday at 7:30 p.m., then finish up tournament play against Marquette (0-1-0) at noon on Sunday.
After a 1-0 loss at Wisconsin to open the season and playing to a 1-1 draw versus Drake at home, the Leathernecks are 0-1-1 entering the 37th annual Panther Invitational.
Coach Johnson's take on the Panther Invitational:
"Tournaments are always fun because your able to watch the other teams play. It's a quality tournament and will allow us to get better, these are not easy games. Playing on the road is good because while it's hard, at the same time there is a lot of focus because you're traveling to play. This year we have to learn how to stay focused on the road. I thought we did well on our trip to Wisconsin, so now we'll see how we do with a three-day road trip."
THE BREAKDOWN
VS. MILWAUKEE
WHO: Western Illinois at Milwaukee
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Milwaukee, Wis.
STADIUM: Engelmann Field (2,000)
LIVE STATS: HERE
LIVE VIDEO: HERE
TWITTER: HERE
VS. MARQUETTE
WHO: Western Illinois vs. Marquette
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 4 at Noon
LOCATION: Milwaukee, Wis.
FIELD: Engelmann Field (2,000)
LIVE STATS: HERE
LIVE AUDIO: HERE
TWITTER: HERE
WEEKLY/TEAM NOTES
A LOOK AT THE PANTHERS: Milwaukee opened its 2011 campaign at home versus Summit League member IPFW last week (Aug. 26), and was defeated, 4-1... Freshman Laurie Bell tallied the Panthers lone goal of the season, while senior Robert Refai earned the assist...The Panthers finished last season 6-10-3 and 4-4-0 in the Horizon League...Milwaukee was eliminated in the first round of their league tournament last season with a 3-0 loss to Loyola.
SERIES HISTORY: Western is 3-3-1 all-time against Milwaukee...The two teams last met in the fall of 2009 and the Panthers defeated the Leathernecks, 1-0.
A LOOK AT THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Marquette traveled to Chicago, Ill. To open their 2011 season versus UIC where they were defeated, 2-1...A header courtesy of freshman Axel Sjoberg on a ball played into the box by junior midfielder Ryan Robb led to Marquette's lone goal of the season...The Golden Eagles finished 2010 7-8-4 and 3-4-2 in the Big East...After defeating St. John's 3-1 in the first round of the Big East tournament, the Golden Eagles were eliminated in round two with a 2-1 loss to Notre Dame.
SERIES HISTORY: Western is 5-5-1 all-time against Marquette...The two teams last met in the fall of 2010 and two teams played to a 0-0 draw.
SHOOT TO SCORE: The Leathernecks lead opponents in shots (34-30) and shots on goal (12-11)...11 different Leathernecks have tallied a shot...Seven different Leathernecks have put a shot on goal.
EXHIBITION SEASON: Western Illinois took part in two exhibition contests in August, both at home...The Graceland Yellowjackets defeated the Leathernecks 4-0 on Aug. 20...All of Graceland's goals were scored in the second half including one goal on a penalty kick...In their second preseason game, Western defeated Quincy on Aug. 22, 1-0...In the match, at the 64:19 mark, senior midfielder Alexis Dominguez took the ball down the crease, found junior forward Nathan Bruinsma who finished near post to put WIU up 1-0 where the score would remain.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Senior goalkeeper and captain Andy Ryan returns to the Leatherneck soccer squad completing his first year as the starter in 2010...Ryan will look to step back in net after an all-league performance last season as he finished at the top of many goalkeeper categories in The Summit League...Those categories included: first in saves per game (5.11), second in saves (92) and third in goals against average (.793).
AT THE HELM: In the midst of his 15th season as the head coach of the Fighting Leathernecks, coach Eric Johnson holds an overall coaching record of 159-185-29 (.465) and a record of 116-132-26 (.470) at Western...During his time at WIU, Johnson has earned league 'Coach of the Year' honors four times, led four teams to Summit League Tournament Championship titles and seen his team receive a berth in the NCAA College Cup in four of the past seven seasons.
2011 ROSTER BREAKDOWN: After losing eight seniors last season, Western Illinois will look to nine seniors this in 2011 for leadership on and off the pitch...Joining the nine seniors are seven juniors, three sophomores and 10 freshmen.
SENIOR CLASS: The 2011 season will be the last for nine Leatherneck soccer players, including: goalkeeper Andy Ryan, defenders Kooten Johnson, Kevin Ross, Adrian Loyocano and Antonio Katic, and midfielders Daniel Lewis, Matt Lewandowski, Mariano Leo and Alexis Dominguez.
NEWCOMERS: This season's incoming class features 12 new Leathernecks, including two junior college transfers (Matt Carlson, Hilary Esangbedo) and 10 freshman (Mario Alvarez, Torrance Brown, Diego Gonzalez, Jose Martinez, Ebenezer Mengistu, Andre Nichols, Ephraim Okeke, Adam Osman, Jarrett Smith and Zachary Walsh).
CAPTAINS: Senior goalkeeper Andy Ryan and senior defender Kooten Johnson will serve as captains for this year's squad.
PRESEASON POLL: Western collected 23 votes, including a first-place vote in the 2011 Men's Soccer Preseason Poll to finish third...Receiving the most votes in the poll was co-favorites Oakland and UNKC as each team collected 32 points to tie for first.
2010 SUMMIT LEAGUE HONORS: Western returns 19 players, including four All-League selections: sophomore Charlie Bales (All-Newcomer), senior Kooten Johnson (Second Team), senior Mariano Leo (Second Team and All-Newcomer) and senior Andy Ryan (Second Team) from last year's team.
PLAYER NOTES
ANDY RYAN NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...One of two captains for this year's team...Owner of a team-best seven shots...Two shots on goal...Member of the Summit League's 2010 'All-Conference' second team.
ANDRE NICHOLS NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Owner of a team-best seven shots...Two shots on goal.
HILARY ESANGBEDO NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Scored Western's first goal of the season at home versus Drake (Aug. 29)...Owner of two shots, both on goal.
AARON APPEL NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Earned the team's first assist of the season at home versus Drake (Aug. 29)...Owner of two shots, one on goal.
CHARLIE BALES NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Owner of a team-best seven shots, two on goal...Member of the Summit League's 2010 'All-Newcomer' squad.
DANIEL LEWIS NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Owner of five shots, three on goal, which is a team-high.
ALEXIS DOMINGUEZ NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Owner of five shots, two on goal.
KOOTEN JOHNSON NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...One of two captains for this year's team...Owner of four shots...Member of the Summit League's 2010 'All-Conference' second team.
HUSREF JUPIC NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Owner of two shots, one on goal.
EMPHRAIM OKEKE NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season...Owner of one shot.
AARON WINKELMAN NOTES: Has started every game for Western this season.
NATHAN BRUINSMA NOTES: Has played in every game this season for Western...Owner of three shots.
DIEGO GONZALEZ NOTES: Has played in every game this season for Western...Owner of two shots.
DAVID PUKA NOTES: Has started one game this season and played in all of them...Owner of one shot which was on goal.
TORRANCE BROWN NOTES: Has started one game this season and played in all of them.
