By: Jill Wunrow (@JillWunrow)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay men's soccer team kicks
off regular season play for the 2012 season Friday, Aug. 24 when it hosts
Northern Kentucky at 7 p.m. at Aldo Santaga Stadium. The contest begins the
longest homestand of the season for the Phoenix, which starts with three
straight for the first time since 1981. Green Bay will host Marquette Sunday at
3 p.m. in a contest which will be rebroadcast on Time Warner Cable Sports32
Monday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.
Friday's game will be the first
meeting between the Phoenix and Northern Kentucky and the head coaching debut of Dan Popik who
was hired at Green Bay June 18. Popik is assisted by Logan Hoffman and former Green Bay player Lati Ziba.
Green Bay finished exhibition play
with a 3-1 win over UW-Parkside and 5-0 shutout win over St. Joseph's College.
The Phoenix scored a combined total of eight goals while holding its opponents
to one. Green Bay was lead in scoring by junior Sam Krenzien (Wauwatosa, Wis.)
who scored a combined four goals, including a hat trick against St. Joseph's
College.
The Phoenix also outshot its
opponents 40-19 while goalie Ryan Wehking (St. Louis, Mo.) registered seven
saves.
SCOUTING NORTHERN KENTUCKY... This season marks Northern Kentucky's first at the NCAA
Division I level. The Norse advanced to the second round of the NCAA's Division
2 men's soccer tournament in 2011 before ending their season with a 14-5
record.
Northern Kentucky enters Friday's
contest against the Phoenix coming off a 2-2 draw against Kentucky in
exhibition play Aug. 17 in front of a record-crowd 1,206 fans.
Junior Mohammad Salhieh led the Norse
in 2011 with five assists and five goals in addition to scoring one goal in
NKU's exhibition game against Kentucky. Keeper Ben Dorn will be in the net for
the Norse after recording five shutouts in 2011 and posting a goals-allowed
average of just 0.69.
SCOUTING MARQUETTE... For the first time since 2007 Green Bay will battle Marquette on the
soccer field as it hosts the Golden Eagles Sunday, Aug. 26 at 3 p.m. at Aldo
Santaga Stadium. Green Bay owns an overall record of 21-13-4 over the Golden
Eagles with two consecutive impressive matches against the in-state opponent.
In the last meeting Sept. 9, 2007 the result was a 1-1 overtime tie and on
Sept. 5, 2006 the Phoenix shut out Marquette 2-0 at Aldo Santaga Stadium.
Marquette enters its 2012 campaign
returning eight starters after earning the 2011 Big East Blue division title
with a 7-2-0 record. The Golden Eagles enter the season ranked No. 33 in the
country by TopDrawerSoccer.com and No. 34 by College Sports Madness.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR... Wehking has started 57 of 58 games throughout his collegiate career with
the Phoenix and is currently tied atop Green Bay's individual career record
list with 19 shutouts, one shy of having sole possession of the record.
A win Friday would mark the seventh
consecutive regular season win for the Phoenix at Aldo Santaga Stadium which
began Sept. 18, 2011 with a 2-1 double overtime win over Dayton in the Green
Bay Soccer Classic.
2011 IN REVIEW...The
Phoenix returns 13 players from its 2011 roster which finished with an overall
record of 11-7-1 and a fourth place finish in the Horizon League with a 5-3-0
record, advancing to the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament. Current
sophomore Kirby Allen (Appleton, Wis.) was a Horizon League All-Newcomer Team
selection and this season is a College Sports Madness Horizon Second Team
All-Conference preseason selection.
ABOUT HEAD COACH DAN POPIK...Popik brings seven years of coaching experience on various
levels in addition to six years of playing experience at the professional
level. Rated among College Soccer News' Top-20 Assistant coaches in 2011, Popik
spent the 2011 season as the associate head coach at Furman University, helping
the Paladins to a 14-4-4 record and the program's first at-large bid to the
NCAA Tournament. Popik also served as the associate head coach and assistant
coach at North Carolina State University (2005-10).
Popik's six years playing at the
professional level included stints with the Columbus Crew (2006), Los Angeles
Galaxy (2004-05) and Milwaukee Rampage (2000-03). Popik's wife Jodie hails from
Menomonee Falls, Wis. and the couple has a four-year old son, Gavin.
FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE... Fans can track live stats of Friday's regular season opener
against Northern Kentucky on GreenBayPhoenix.com or follow on Twitter here. Friday's game will not be available on live video stream but Sunday's
contest against Marquette can be watched
live on Phoenix Flix.
POPIK'S TOPIKS... Be sure to check out Popik's Topiks
with head coach Dan Popik every Wednesday on GreenBayPhoenix.com for the
latest insights on Green Bay's upcoming opponents and recent contests. You can
watch this week's episode of Popik's Topiks here.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE... Green Bay will wrap up its three-game homestand Friday, Aug.
31 as it hosts Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. at Aldo Santaga Stadium. The Phoenix
will then play its following four contests on the road beginning at Niagara
Sept. 2.
###
For
the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics, please visit
GreenBayPhoenix.com.
Follow
us on Twitter: @GBPhoenix, @GBPhoenixMSOC
and @JillWunrow.
Like
Green Bay Phoenix Athletics
and Green Bay Phoenix Men's Soccer
on Facebook.
---www.GreenBayPhoenix.com---
