CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cassidy Blanchard and Jen Eberhardy hooked up on a pair of corner-kick goals to send the Milwaukee women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Cleveland State Friday night at Krenzler Field.
 
The win for Milwaukee, the nation's lone remaining unbeaten team, clinches the Horizon League regular-season title, it's third in a row under head coach Troy Fabiano.
 
"We are extremely proud of the effort and focus the team has shown," Fabiano said. "They continue to push each other in training daily and they compete day-in and day-out. We will enjoy the regular-season championship tonight and turn our focus on the Horizon League Tournament tomorrow. It's an exciting time for our University and community to host the tournament in Milwaukee."
 
It also marked the 13^th shutout of the season for Mallory Geurts, tying the school and Horizon League record while also moving back into a tie for tops on the NCAA list this fall.
 
The Panthers (15-0-3, 7-0-2 Horizon League) jumped ahead of the Vikings (9-9-0, 5-4-0 Horizon League) fairly quickly on a cold night, one with rain falling throughout.
 
The first goal came at the 10:47 mark, when Eberhardy's ball was deflected slightly by the defense right to Blanchard, who volleyed one past the CSU keeper for her first goal of the season.
 
Maddie Tetzke hit the post in the 24^th minute, denying her the chance to double the lead on a shot from distance that also slightly went off the hand of the goalie. It went to intermission at 1-0, but the tandem of Blanchard and Eberhardy struck just 1:46 after the second half opened to make it 2-0. Blanchard went charging in from the top of the box, heading it in on a bounce past the keeper just in front of the goal line.
 
Blanchard then nearly had the hat trick, heading Eberhardy's corner in the 55^th minute just wide right of the post.
 
UWM had a few decent chances to make it 3-0, including a point-blank shot at the left post in the 59^th minute from McKaela Schmelzer that was blocked at the last second.
 
Geurts finished the night with just one save, recording her 13^th shutout in 2017 to equal Erin Kane's Horizon League record set in both 2005 and 2006.
 
For the game, Milwaukee enjoyed advantages of 14-to-4 in shots, 4-to-1 in shots on goal and 8-to-1 in corner kicks. Blanchard finished with a game-high four shot attempts and posted the second two-goal game of her career, the first also coming against these same Vikings a season ago.
 
With the win, the Panthers firm grip on the league title over the years continues. In addition to marking back-to-back-to-back crowns for Fabiano in his first three seasons, it also makes it 17 times in the past 18 years that the Panthers have won the regular-season championship.
 
As the No. 1 seed, UWM does earn hosting rights for next week's Horizon League Tournament. The team will have a bye during the first round Monday and will host semifinals Thursday and the championship game Saturday. The schedule and times will be posted to the Milwaukee website as soon as they are available.

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