Sept. 23, 2000

MILWAUKEE- The highly-anticipated match-up between UWM and Yale provided plenty of action for its soccer fans, as UWM prevailed, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon at Engelmann Field. The Panthers raised their record to 5-3 on the season, while the Bulldogs dropped to 2-3.

Postponed from Friday night due to wet field conditions, the game was significant to UWM fans as it marked the return of former UWM and current Yale coach Brian Tompkins back to Engelmann Field. Tompkins' Bulldogs were down 2-0 at half, but managed to fight back in the second half to give the Milwaukee fans a good battle to watch.

"I thought we dug ourselves a hole in the first half," said Tompkins. "We didn't play dangerous enough and had a couple of lapses. In the second half, we moved forward with the ball quicker. But it is disappointing, a bitter medicine to swallow."

UWM scored in the eight minute when senior midfielder Blake Bostwick rebounded a shot from two yards out. Forward Kyle Lance took the initial shot, forcing Yale goalkeeper Geoff Hollington to get a hand on it. Bostwick cleaned it up to take the early 1-0 lead.

The Panthers then took a two-goal lead into halftime when junior forward Ryan Seymour scored at the 34:14 mark. Left defender Mark Pehowski served a great ball into Yale's box past a Bulldog defender. Sophomore Kevin Roethe touched it down out of the air to Seymour, who one-timed it far post .

"It's a real barn-burner," said UWM coach Louis Bennett. The first half was decidedly ours with the 2-0 score. In the second half, they attacked forward, playing long into our defenders. We struggled to adjust, and it became a very equal battle. They're a very fine team and are very well-coached. So we didn't expect to have a 2-0 lead with all that in mind."

After only three first-half shots, Yale picked it up in the second half to outshoot the Panthers 14-13 overall. The Bulldogs got on board in the 50th minute with a Brian Larkin goal. The play began when a Yale corner kick was sent far post to Stuart Yingst, who played it to Larkin for the one-yard goal past a UWM defender.

UWM went up 3-1 when Lance terrorized the Bulldogs' defense. The freshman forward played it to sophomore Derek Kasten, who heeled it back to him for the attack. Instead of taking the initial shot, Lance dribbled it closer, taking on three defenders in the box to score from 10-yards out.

Yale crept back into the game after senior Scott Dombrowski was ejected in the 81st minute for receiving a second yellow card. Capitalizing on the man advantage, Yale scored when a 20-yard shot snuck through the UWM defense to trail the game, 3-2, with less than two minutes remaining.

"Obviously when we go a man down, it puts a lot of pressure on us. And it was a bad mistake for the final goal at 1:49 left in the game. But as a whole team, it was one of our best performances. It's a great win, especially at home for all the (alumni) who came back to support us and for the fans," said Bennett.