FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct. 1, 2015)-- After a two-game homestand, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's and women's soccer teams are back on the road, traveling to downstate Illinois to face Great Lakes Valley Conference rivals McKendree University and University of Illinois Springfield.
 
The Ranger women face McKendree on Friday at 5 p.m. in Lebanon, Illinois with the men following at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday the Parkside women take the pitch at noon against UIS with the Ranger men getting underway at 2:30 p.m.
 
About the UW-Parkside women's soccer team: The Rangers (2-5-1, 1-4-1 GLVC) look to snap a three-game slide after dropping a pair of one goal games last weekend at Wood Road Field.
 
Against the University of Missouri-Saint Louis on Sept. 25, host Parkside was unable to climb out of a 2-0 hole, conceding scores in the 40th and 48th minutes. Chloe Couves got the Green and White on the board in the 49th minute with a rocket from 30-yards out but the visiting Tritons held the Rangers at bay over the final 41 minutes to snag the 2-1 victory.
 
Two days later, UW-Parkside enjoyed a 3-1 second half lead only to have Maryville University tally three unanswered scores to escape Somers with the 4-3 win. Jillian Hetfleisch got things going for the Rangers with a goal in the 19th minute while the Saints quickly responded with a goal of their own 75 seconds later.
 
Vianey Hernandez scored goals in the 28th and 47th minutes to give the hosts a 3-1 lead but Maryville wouldn't back down, collecting scores in the 55th, 62nd, and 79th minutes, including the last two off the boot of Hana McGinis.
 
Hernandez leads the Rangers in scoring with three of the team's nine goals and is tied for the team lead in points with Hetfleisch who has two goals and two assists to her name. Lauren Bialas has scored two goals, both game-winners, while Lexi Porter has a pair of assists.
 
In goal, Sarah Dobrowolski has logged all 740 minutes between the posts, earning three shutouts and collecting 31 saves with a goals against average of 1.34.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree (4-3-2, 3-2-1 GLVC) heads into Friday looking to snap a three game winless streak (0-2-1). The Bearcats' woes began on Sept. 25, having their three-game win streak come to a close after suffering a 3-0 setback to host Drury University. McKendree earned a 1-1 double overtime draw against Missouri University S&T two days later before falling 2-1 to non-conference foe Oklahoma Christian University on Tuesday to finish off the road swing.
 
Chelsea Whittaker paces the Bearcat offense, scoring three goals and three assists on the season. Alyssa Patterson leads the squad with four assists while adding two goals while seven other McKendree student-athletes have scored a goal in 2015.
 
Taylor Zerbe has played every minute of all nine games this season, claiming two shutouts and owning a goals against average of 1.26. Zerbe has made 48 saves on the season while conceding 12 goals.  
 
About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (3-5, 2-3 GLVC) heads into Friday's clash with Lewis University having won three of its last four games. The Prairie Stars suffered a 2-1 setback to then No. 18 Bellarmine University on Sept. 13 to fall to 0-4 before ripping off three straight 1-0 shutout victories. Among the victims of UIS during that run was non-league foe Judson University on Sept. 15 along with William Jewell on Sept. 20 and Missouri S&T last Friday. The Prairie Stars' run of success came to a halt on Sunday, falling 2-0 to host Drury, conceding both goals in the second half.
 
Karisa Rogers is the team's leader in both goals (three) and points (seven) while Nikki Auble has two goals and two assists. Sam Morin is the only other Prairie Star with more than one goal, scoring twice on the 2015 campaign.
 
Paige Polonus patrols the goalmouth for UIS, having played every minute of all eight games and making 40 saves on the season. Polonus boasts three shutouts to her name and a goals against average of 1.32.
 
GLVC Prognostications: The GLVC announced its annual Coaches' Poll on August 27 with the defending champion UW-Parkside picked to finish fourth in the 16-team league in 2015.
 
The Rangers secured 184 points and four first place votes to snag the No. 4 position. Bellarmine University is the favorite with 219 points and nine first place votes followed by Rockhurst University with 196 points. Truman State University was third with 188 points and three first place votes with Quincy University rounding out the top five with 170 points.
 
Academic Prowess: UW-Parkside was honored by the NSCAA on Sept. 23, earning the College Team Academic Award for excellence in the classroom. The Rangers maintained a 3.18 grade point average during the 2014-2015 academic year, earning the award for the third time in program history and the first time since 2001. To be eligible, teams must maintain a cumulative GPA above 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
 
Individually, 12 Ranger student-athletes earned Academic All-GLVC in the spring, including returners Lauren Bialas, Jenna Brzeski, Taylor Burek, Sarah Dobrowolski, Lexi Porter, Kelly Trojak, and Selena Wicklund. To earn Academic All-GLVC honors, student-athletes must maintain a 3.30 GPA or above.
 
Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly invincible at home in recent years, posting a 44-6-7 record over the last 57 games at Wood Road Field. UW-Parkside additionally owns a 34-3-5 record against GLVC foes during the regular season over the last 42 league games.
 
16 and Counting: The Rangers have experienced 16 straight winning seasons, a streak spanning all the way back to 1999. The unprecedented run has seen UW-Parkside make seven trips to the NCAA Tournament and win four GLVC Tournament Championships.
 
Five and Counting: UW-Parkside has made the NCAA Tournament the past five seasons and six of the last seven years. The Rangers have qualified for the Big Dance in 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2004 and 2003. The Rangers advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2008 while making an appearance in the Sweet 16 in 2014, 2012 and 2010. UW-Parkside has advanced past the first round every time except for an opening round exit in 2003. The Rangers are 8-8-1 all-time in NCAA games.
 
Nikolic Nuggets: Head Coach Brittany Nikolic enters her first season at UW-Parkside and has a championship pedigree as both a player and a coach. She was a standout at Stanford University, helping the Cardinal to four NCAA Tournament appearances along with a Pac 10 Conference Championship and an NCAA Quarterfinal appearance in 2002.
 
A two-time Honorable Mention All-Pac 10 honoree, Nikolic served as an assistant coach at Northwestern University, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2004-2008. She helped UWM to a Horizon League regular season and tournament title in 2008 and UNLV to a Mountain West Conference Tournament crown in 2006 along with a regular season title for the Rebels in 2007.
 
The Los Angeles, California, native comes to UW-Parkside after a six-year stint as head coach at NCAA Division III Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she inherited a program that collected just 20 wins in the eight years prior to her arrival on campus. Nikolic rewrote the record book at the all-women's college, guiding the Inferno to their best season in program history in 2013 while exiting as the program's all-time winningest coach.
 
About the UW-Parkside men's soccer team: The Rangers (3-4-1, 3-2-1 GLVC) earned a tie and suffered a loss last weekend at Wood Road Field against a pair of GLVC foes from Saint Louis.
 
UW-Parkside played to a 2-2 double overtime stalemate against Missouri-Saint Louis last Friday with both Ranger goals coming off free kicks. Evan Garcia gave the hosts an early advantage in the 12th minute, punching the ball past the Triton keeper on a free kick but UMSL responded with a goal in the 32nd minute and a goal in the 74th minute to seize the lead. The Rangers tied the contest in the 83rd minute with Philipp Koehler scoring after Scott Nicolai served the ball into the box on a free kick.
 
Overtime was again necessary two days later with visiting Maryville netting the game's lone score in the fourth minute of overtime. The game marked the first time this season the Rangers were shutout and the first shutout loss at Wood Road Field for the squad since falling to Missouri S&T 1-0 on Sept. 12, 2014.
 
Garcia and Ryan Shogren account for six of the Rangers' 11 goals this season, both having found the back of the net on three occasions, Nicolai has a pair of goals, both game-winners while Jaime Colin, Koehler, and Szymon Owczarek have all tallied scores during the 2015 campaign.
 
Remi Bibal took over the starting goalkeeper duties at the start of GLVC play and has logged all 570 minutes of conference action between the posts, collecting 33 saves and three shutouts with a goals against average of 0.95.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree (3-4, 3-3 GLVC) roared out of the gate to begin conference play, racking up three shutout victories but have struggled in its last three outings, dropping all three by identical 2-1 score lines. The Bearcats opened league play with 1-0 victories over both Bellarmine and Southern Indiana before crushing William Jewell 3-0 on Sept. 18.
 
McKendree's fortunes turned on Sept. 20, stumbling 2-1 in overtime to 22nd-ranked Rockhurst and falling 2-1 in double overtime five days later against host Drury. The Bearcats capped off their road swing on Sunday against Missouri S&T, again falling 2-1 after allowing the game-winner in the 86th minute.
 
Felipe Thompson leads McKendree in both goals (two) and points (five) while Vijay Brahmbhatt is the squad's top assist man with two.
 
Scott Armistead is the Bearcats' main keeper making 37 saves and owning a 1.06 goals against average in 680 minutes of action.
 
About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (2-5-1, 0-5-1 GLVC) heads into Friday's match with Lewis still searching for its first conference win. The Prairie Stars dropped the first five contests of league play, getting outscored by a 14-1 margin in those games before battling to a 1-1 double overtime draw against host Drury on Sunday.
 
Against Drury, UIS's Kanye Sayon was the hero netting a goal in the 70th minute to equalize the score for the team's first non-loss since a 2-1 overtime win over University of Mary on Sept. 6.
 
Dylan Stockman is Illinois Springfield's biggest offensive threat, scoring three goals on the year while Zachary Allevi and Sayon are the only other players to score a goal in 2015, both having two goals and one assist on the year.
 
Tommy Geile has handled a majority of the goalkeeping duties, owning a 1.42 goals against average with 37 saves in 572 minutes of work.
 
GLVC Prognostications: The GLVC announced its annual Coaches' Poll on August 27 with UW-Parkside picked to finish 10th in the 16-team league in 2015.
 
The Rangers collected 92 points in the rankings, two points ahead of 11th place Truman State University and 15 points short of ninth ranked University of Southern Indiana.
 
University of Indianapolis is the preseason favorite with 206 points and six first place votes followed closely by defending regular season and tournament champion Quincy University with 203 points and eight first place votes. Rockhurst University is third with 194 points while Drury University sits fourth with 188 points and the remaining two first place nods.
 
90 Minutes is Not Enough: Three of UW-Parkside's six GLVC games have gone into overtime with the squad experiencing mixed success in the sudden death overtime sessions. The Rangers first foray in overtime was a 1-0 victory over host University of Indianapolis on Sept. 13 before playing to a 2-2 double overtime draw against UMSL on Sept. 25. Maryville sent the Rangers' their first overtime setback on Sept. 27, escaping Wood Road Field with a 1-0 win in the 94th minute.
 
The Z-File: Jason Zitzke enters his 17th season as a member of the coaching staff and his fifth season as head coach in 2015. During that span, the UW-Parkside graduate and 2010 Hall of Fame Inductee owns a 176-103-27 record, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament and one GLVC Championship (2000).
 
Roster Breakdown: Of the 28 student-athletes on the Ranger roster, 18 hail from Wisconsin while four hail from Minnesota. UW-Parkside has a pair from Illinois along with four international student-athletes from France, Gambia, Germany, and Poland.