MILWAUKEE - With a chance to claim the regular-season title in their own hands, the Milwaukee women's soccer team made quick work of Cleveland State University Friday night at Engelmann Stadium, repeating as Horizon League champions with a dominating 6-1 victory.
 
The Panthers (12-4-2, 8-1-0 Horizon League) needed at least a draw against the Vikings (5-12-0, 2-7-0 Horizon League) coming in, taking command with a seventh-minute goal on their way to piling up six goals in the first half.
 
"I think the biggest thing we talked about was coming out quick and, boy, did we come out quick," UWM head coach Troy Fabiano said. "We were sharp and firing on all cylinders, creating chances and finishing. No better way to start than to get some early goals and they kept coming in the first half."
 
It was "Senior Night" for the team as well, with the victory highlighted by two-goal performances by Anna Smalley and Cassidy Blanchard, as well as a three-assist evening from Callie O'Donnell.
 
Milwaukee was dangerous on its corner kicks all night, getting on the board at the 7:15 mark when Blanchard headed in O'Donnell's corner kick to open the scoring.
 
"We told ourselves in the locker room, 'we control our own destiny, let's not worry about other scores'," Fabiano said. "Getting that early one definitely helped us and then one became two and so on. Now we put our focus towards the semifinals of the Horizon League Championships."
 
It was more of the same from there. Maddie Tetzke made it 2-0 in the 14^th minute, volleying a shot into a wide-open net after the CSU goalie collided with another player on the run-up, netting her third of the season.
 
Smalley made it 3-0 at the 20:55 mark, finishing nicely with one touch around the goalkeeper on a breakaway attempt for her eighth tally of the year.
 
It was Smalley again just over three minutes later, playing a beautiful give-and-go with O'Donnell to make it 4-0 at the 24:04 mark.
 
Blanchard came up with her first two-goal outing of her UWM career at the 39:01 mark, again on a corner kick. She sent the first touch off the crossbar. The attempt to clear by the Viking defense came right back to her, and she finished to up the advantage to 5-0.
 
The last goal of the first half came less than 30 seconds before intermission, with Marissa Stovring redirecting a corner kick in front into the back of the net at the 44:33 mark.
 
Milwaukee dominated the entire night, despite not adding to its lead in the second half. A total of 27 different players saw time on the field, with the majority playing more than 20 minutes. At the end of the night, UWM held advantages of 36-to-7 in shots, 16-to-4 in shots on goal and 14-to-1 on corner kicks.
 
"Any time you can get everyone in like that and enjoy it and get the result like we did, you enjoy it," Fabiano added.
 
Maria Stephans, Kelli Swenson and Jen Eberhardy all added assists. For Stephans, it was her league-leading 10^th of the campaign. O'Donnell, Tetzke, Lourdes Onwuemeka and Sydney Senn led the way with four shots apiece. Three goalies combined for the win, with Mallory Geurts (1 save in the first half), Lauren Rice (2 stops in 22:58) and Olivia Davies (22:02) all splitting time. A late CSU goal by Ashley Thiss prevented the shutout.
 
With the win, the Panthers firm grip on the league title over the years continues. In addition to marking back-to-back crowns for Fabiano in his first two seasons, it also marks the 16^th time in the past 17 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.
 
The game marked the final regular-season appearance for the six seniors, which included O'Donnell, Stephans, Ashley Burkhardt, Abbey Hoerchner, Tatum Smith and Kelly Manski.
 

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