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

SOMERS, Wis. (Sept. 17, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside soccer teams continue its Great Lakes Valley Conference road swing this week, squaring off against two different teams in two separate states. The trip begins in Illinois at Quincy University before crossing the Mississippi River to face Truman State University in Missouri.
 
The Ranger women face Quincy at 5 p.m. on Friday at Legends Stadium with the men following at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday the men open the day at 12 p.m. against the Bulldogs in Kirksville, Missouri, with the women's game kicking off at 2:30 p.m.
 
About the UW-Parkside women's soccer team: The Rangers (2-2, 1-1 GLVC) split a pair of games for the second consecutive weekend, opening GLVC play with a 1-0 setback to Saint Joseph's College at Wood Road Field on Sept. 11 before earning a 1-0 win over host University of Indianapolis on Sunday.
 
Against Saint Joseph's, the Rangers dominated statistically, controlling possession and owning a 17-10 edge in shots but fell victim to a 40^th minute goal after Brittany Santoro struck from 25-yards out.
 
Two days later it was the Rangers collecting the 1-0 decision with Lauren Bialas scoring her second goal of the season in the 56^th minute.
 
Bialas leads the squad in both goals (two) and points (five) while Vianey Hernandez and Macy Gassner are the only other Rangers to find the back of the net through the opening four games of 2015.
 
Defensively, the Rangers have posted two shutouts and allowed just three goals on the season with goalkeeper Sarah Dobrowolski making 14 saves thus far.
 
About the Hawks: Quincy (4-0-1, 1-0-1 GLVC) heads into Friday unbeaten and ranked third in the nation. The Hawks opened 2015 with a bang, disposing two-time defending national champion Grand Valley State University 3-0 on Sept. 4 at Legends Stadium. QU continued to roll during the non-conference slate, collecting a 3-0 win over Ferris State University and a 6-1 decision over Southwest Baptist University.
 
Quincy settled for a 1-1 tie in the GLVC opener after visiting University of Missouri-Saint Louis tallied the equalizer in the 59^th minute before edging Maryville University 2-1 on Sunday.
 
Ashley Burton is Quincy's top offensive threat with a team-high five goals and 12 points while axine Peat and Abby Pulliam have both found the back of the net twice on the young season.
 
Goalkeeper Megan Swanson has made 33 saves and conceded just three goals, owning a 0.60 goals against average.
 
About the Bulldogs: Truman State (2-1-2, 1-0-1 GLVC) heads into Friday's clash with Lewis University unbeaten in its last three contests. The Bulldogs lone setback in 2015 was a 4-0 whitewash at the hands of then No. 1 Grand Valley State on Sept. 6, just two days removed from Quincy's upset of the Lakers.
 
Truman rebounded from the loss with a scoreless draw against Maryville before etching out a 1-0 road win over UMSL on Sunday, notching a goal in the 51^st minute off the boot of Megan Whitehead.  TSU remained on the road on Tuesday, closing out non-conference action with a 1-1 draw against Lindenwood University.
 
Alexis Heffernan is the Bulldogs' leading scorer, netting two goals on the season while Casey Maloney has a team-best two assists.
 
In goal, Katie Mattingly has started all five games, making 18 saves and yielding five goals.
 
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.
 
Road Warriors: UW-Parkside has won its last eight away games stretching back to last season. The Rangers were 7-0 away from Wood Road Field in 2014 and have started the 2015 campaign 1-0. Parkside has outscored foes by a combined 15-1 margin in those games with the lone goal conceded against then No. 20 Rockhurst University in a 2-1 win on Sept. 19, 2014.
 
Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly invincible at home in recent years, posting a 44-4-7 record over the last 55 games at Wood Road Field.
 
UW-Parkside had its 39 game (34-0-5) GLVC regular season unbeaten streak snapped on Sept. 11, falling to Saint Joseph's College 1-0. It was the Rangers first conference regular season home setback since a 1-0 defeat to the University of Indianapolis on Oct. 2, 2009.
 
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 (2-2, 2-0 GLVC) head to Illinois riding a two-game win streak and are off to their best start to GLVC play since the 2006 season. UW-Parkside opened the lid on GLVC action on Sept. 11, earning a 1-0 victory over visiting Saint Joseph's after Scott Nicolai tallied a 38^th minute score off a free kick. Two days later it was Ryan Shogren playing the role of hero, converting a penalty kick in the sixth minute of overtime to lift the Green and White past host UIndy, 1-0.
 
Ranger keeper Remi Bibal played a big role in the weekend success, making five saves against the Pumas, including a save on a penalty kick in the 53^rd minute while making six saves in the 96-minute OT thriller on Sunday. For his efforts, the France native was named the GLVC Defender of the Week.
 
All four goals this season have come from a different Ranger with Nicolai, Shogren, Szymon Owczarek, and Brandon Henderson all finding the back of the net in 2015. Jaime Colin is the leader in assists with two helpers in his debut season with the Rangers.
 
Bibal and Nate Kitchell have split time in goal for the Rangers. Bibal has posted two shutouts in his two starts, making 11 saves in 186 minutes of labor. Kitchell has tallied seven saves in 180 minutes of work with a goals against average of 3.50.
 
About the Hawks: Ninth-ranked Quincy (3-1, 2-0 GLVC) opened conference play with a bang, outscoring Saint Louis foes UMSL and Maryville by a combined 5-1 margin. The Hawks never trailed in a 2-1 win over Missouri-Saint Louis to open the GLVC slate on Sept. 11 before blowing away host Maryville 3-0 on Sunday. QU's lone setback this season was a 3-1 defeat to non-conference foe Lindenwood University on Sept. 6 at the QU Alumni Cup Tournament inside Legends Stadium.
 
Xhovani Dokaj and David Geerling lead the Hawks in scoring, both with a pair of goals while Artan Emini is the leading assist-man with two on the year.
 
Nate Griffin has logged all 360 minutes between the posts, recording 11 saves and owning a 1.25 goals against average.
 
About the Bulldogs: Truman State (1-3, 1-1 GLVC) heads into the weekend having dropped three of its first four games of the season. Two of the Bulldogs' three setbacks have come at the hands of ranked opponents, falling 3-0 to then No. 21 Northeastern State University in the opener and 2-0 to then No.  14 Fort Hays State University.
 
Truman utilized a 16^th minute penalty kick from Corey Nolte to secure a 1-0 victory over Maryville to open league play before getting blanked 2-0 by UMSL on Sunday.
 
Nolte is the only Bulldog to score a goal this season as the Truman offense ranks 194^th nationally out of 212 NCAA Division II teams.
 
Drew Orf has handled the goalkeeping duties, boasting a 1.75 goals against average with 15 saves on the season.
 
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.
 
Party like its 2006: The Rangers are off to their best start to GLVC play since the 2006 season. Led by 2012 UW-Parkside Hall of Famer Rick Kilps, the 2006 squad won the opening four games of conference action and the opening six games overall, ultimately closing the season with a 13-4-4 record and an 8-2-3 mark in the GLVC.
 
Offensive to Defensive: In 2014, UW-Parkside was one of the best offensive teams in NCAA Division II, ranking 22^nd nationally in scoring averaging 2.28 goals per game and 18^th nationally in points per game (6.33). The team has pulled a 180 in 2015, ranking 22^nd nationally in shutout percentage (0.50) while ranking just 135^th nationally in scoring, averaging 1.0 goals per game.
 
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 175-101-26 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.