Getting to Know Us

Laurie Bell, a junior on the 2013 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his sixth entry of the year.

Note: Due to an issue beyond anyone's control, this blog was not posted until Saturday after the win over Detroit instead of on Friday.

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After our convincing 2-0 win against Western Michigan last Sunday, we have had an abnormally long six day break between fixtures. This has given us time to recover, train hard and prepare properly for our first conference game - tomorrow at Detroit. It also means that things have been a little quiet on the team front. Therefore, the blog this week takes a different form. On the bus to the “Motor City”, I asked every player for a comment or fun fact about a teammate so readers can get to know their Panthers a little better. Some are routine, some strange and some just plain wrong. Enjoy!

“Goodnetter loves 7-11 slushies,” said Aaron Cranfill.

Ashy said, “Richard Johnson takes girls to Culvers on a first date.” Kid’s got game.

Junior told me, “Agustin snores like a wild animal.” I have been told the same thing about myself. Don’t worry, brother!

Agustin said, “Me, Rami and Junior have a secret language. I’m a tick-tock-tack; they’re both tacks.” Ha, tacks! I have no idea what that means but he walked away laughing, so I guess that’s funny to the three of them.

According to Beau, “Kostas has a code-red stalker.” Not bad after just a couple of months in Milwaukee.

Declan said, “Patrick Ruhland and I started as roommates, became friends and are now brothers.” Cute.

“Laurie’s favorite birthday present was the rabbit,” said Zach, trying to cause trouble.

Riley revealed, “Luke (Davey) is the biggest Brewers fan and he has aspirations to get married on the field.”

When Jonny Stahr’s having a tough day, Horvat gives him a lift. “His constant swearing at video games provides comedic relief.” Very well put.

Liam said, “Beau thinks he’s the biggest bad-ass.” I believe it but he really, really isn’t. Really.

Cranfill gave us the revelation of the day. “A.To (Toth) still plays with his lego bricks in his basement,” he said. I guess that’s why he commutes to campus.

Luke G said, “Ferron loves his snacks.”

All Ferron had to say was, “To all those naysayers; I say nay.” OK, Kev.

“Riley really loves salads,” Nuemann said, “an abnormal amount.”

Austin got back at Cranfill saying, “He is so afraid of styrofoam. He can’t even be close to it.”

Stone confessed, “I like cheese and jelly on my toast. At the same time.” I’d make fun of him for it, but we’re all just a bit afraid of Andrew.

“I watch all the Star Wars movies at least once every other year,” Robbie said, without anybody asking. He’s proud of it so we’ll let him be.

Rami said, “Agustin loves my PSP more than I do,” or something similar in his strong Swedish accent.

Luke Davey said, “Nuemann loves to make vines when he gets out of the shower.” Knowing Kyle, that’s unsurprising. But still strange.

Dustin said about Zach, “He drives a Jeep from Jurassic Park and loves to cuddle with a girl and watch his favorite movie – Country Strong.” Questionable from Stevenson.

What didn’t you know about Dustin? He sleeps more than a pack of sloths. I genuinely think he needs to be prescribed pills.

Kostas said, “Whenever Liam’s in our dorm room he doesn’t wear a lot of clothes.” Yup, that’s wrong.

Jonno wanted to share a message passed on to him by the wisest of Panama City taxi drivers. He said, “Love is the most powerful force in the universe.” Richie is eagerly waiting to find out and is racking up the Culvers dates. Good luck, pal.

Finally, a line from our long-serving trainer, Jon Ochsenwald: “It’s great to see the Panthers back to their winning ways.”

We all agree. Let’s keep that going in Detroit.

Punching Above our Weight?

Laurie Bell, a junior on the 2013 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his fifth entry of the year.

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One thing Floyd Mayweather and the Panther soccer team has in common is that we’re both undefeated. The second is we’re both big Justin Bieber fans. No, that second one is definitely a joke. On Saturday night, members of our team huddled together in hotel rooms to watch Mayweather defeat Canelo Alvarez in his boxing fight. On the days either side, we recorded wins of our own.

The boxing took points to decide the outcome; Friday’s game against DePaul took overtime. Throughout the ninety minutes we threw punch after punch (not literally) but only landed one. We went ahead through Robbie Boyd, with one of two goals the new Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week scored this weekend. After that, we missed chance after chance, myself guiltier than anyone, and failed put the contest out of sight. DePaul equalized in the final stages of normal time – we weren’t quite saved by the bell - and it took a hundredth minute goal from centre back Andrew Stone to finally land the knockout blow.

On Saturday we went on the road and headed for Indianapolis. Last year we didn’t win a single game when we stayed in a hotel the night before. Soccer players can be a superstitious bunch and our trip’s beginning did nothing to ease our suspicions of some voodoo away from Engelmann. The bus driver, on his first day of the job, didn’t even know how to put his vehicle in reverse. And by hour four of the journey, his eyes were looking very heavy. But who could blame him – we were in Indiana!

We arrived at the hotel safely and were assigned our rooms. Two hours later, pockets of players crowded around laptop computers and watched the big fight. I’m not sure what it was about watching the largely uneventful 36 minutes of ring-dancing, but it set us up for a convincing performance the next day.

We won 3-0 against IUPUI with goals from Boyd, Bell and a fine individual effort from Weiner. It has been a while since he scored, but Riley was saving himself for a good one. He carried the ball through the midfield, weaved, jinked, twisted and turned before striking the ball left-footed into the goal. By the time he was done with them, the two defenders he beat were left looking like they’d been through twelve rounds with Mr. Mayweather himself.

Come to Engelmann tonight to watch your Midwestern Middleweights against Western Illinois as we attempt to keep up the best start to a Panther soccer season since 1996.

Panthers and Other Animals

Laurie Bell, a junior on the 2013 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his fourth entry of the year.

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Being 2-0-1 after three games is a nice position to be in. Even the first assignments of the school year and the sense of summer heat being on the way out can’t cool our mood. We had a good weekend and our start to the season has set us up nicely for our pursuit of a fulfilling fall.

Both games went well. We felt we should have beaten Drake but we remained undefeated. Sunday, we won convincingly, scoring two and keeping our first clean sheet of the season thanks to solid defensive work. I scored a penalty for which I must thank Robbie Boyd. Somewhat unfairly, you aren’t awarded assists for winning PKs so I hope Robbie feels compensated by a blog mention instead. His performances in each game were exciting and he created multiple chances for teammates in both.

Other notable performances at the weekend came from new men Junior Juarez and Rami Younes. Junior started both matches, the first of his career and performed solidly in each. Defending well and getting forward effectively from his right back berth, he was a solid presence throughout and looked comfortable in the role. Rami managed to follow up his game-winning assist against Marquette with a goal of his own on Sunday. He carried the ball thirty yards, beat two defenders and shot from distance into the top corner to pierce Bowling Green’s resolute defense. Congratulations go out to both guys for making impacts so early.

Off the field, two pets have made their way into the college lives and houses of certain players. Ideally, our choice of animals would show school spirit, but domesticated panthers are a little hard to come by. Instead, my house has a bunny and Kevin Ferron’s has a cat. We named the rabbit 'Gosling' after favorite movie star Ryan Gosling. Both are easy on the eyes, but that’s about where the similarities end; unless the Canadian actor also leaves his droppings all around the house. Inkeeping with the Canadian theme, I put a flannel shirt that our own man from Vancouver, Declan Rodriguez, left at our house into Gosling’s cage for extra comfort. Sorry Decs, I don’t think you’re getting that one back.

I haven’t yet seen Ferron’s furry feline Puma, but I have it on good authority that she is the size of your hand, terribly clumsy and insanely cute. And although Puma constantly begs for food, Kevin told me that his roommate Aaron Cranfill still meows more often than the kitty does. I’d like to offer an explanation, but that’s just Cranfill.

We’ll all have to find pet minders this weekend as we go on the road for the first time this regular season. Starting with the short trip to DePaul on Friday and followed by a longer trek to Indiana to face IUPUI on Sunday, the double header will be a good test for us away from the familiarity of Engelmann. Regardless, we are preparing for two positive results to further out impressive start to the season.

Panther Stampede

Laurie Bell, a junior on the 2013 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his third entry of the year.

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It's been a few days since our victory over Marquette and I have just stopped celebrating. Shortly after the win came my birthday and all the revelry surrounding such an occasion. On Friday, I stated through social media that all I wanted for my birthday was the Milwaukee Cup. We got it and, my teammates will all agree, it feels so, so sweet. I actually got a lot more thanks to the generosity of jubilant Panthers, friends and family (via airmail). It was the perfect weekend.

Our start to the game was perfect, too. As goalscorer Declan Rodriguez ran to the crowd, who cheered and yelled in giddy disbelief at the earliness of our opening goal, I turned to look at the clock - frozen dead on the one minute mark. It was a relief to go ahead and settled everybody's nerves. However, having lost in the final second last year, we knew the contest was still young at that point and indeed Marquette got back into it soon after, levelling the score. Ultimately, there was no last-gasp drama though, as our game-winner was scored in the 27th minute by senior debutant Austin Toth.

In his previous three years playing at DePaul, A.To confessed to me, he only managed one goal. So to score in the headline fixture on our regular-season schedule was something pretty special. It was a sweet-struck finish which was celebrated by the left back wheeling away towards the bench, where he singled out Dustin Ashley. It turned out he'd borrowed Dustin's boots to play in and they had evidently brought him a goalscoring touch. It remains to be seen what footwear he'll stride out in next week!

The rest of the game was spent preserving our lead, with nobody more involved than another debutant - goalkeeper Liam Anderson. His saves, along with resolute defending from everyone out there, won us the match.

Another contibuting factor was the support from the record 3,312 spectators crammed around the field. I have heard several reports from those in the bleachers of how rowdy and crowded their viewing experiences were. Each of their suportive voices drove us on throughout the game and made the occasion something truly memorable to be a part of. I'd love to see the stands so full every week - having big numbers boosts our team's performance and the status of the program. Hopefully our victorious display will bring many of them back this weekend for the Panther Invitational.

When the final whistle eventually blew, many of the fans stormed onto the field. Us players were swallowed, lost somewhere inside the Panther stampede. What peaked out of the horde though, risen as high as Robbie Boyd's little arms could manage and glinting under the Engelmann lights was the Milwaukee Cup: Grand, shiny and ours for at least the next twelve months. Happy days.