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  The season has started, and the honors keep rolling in for UW-Milwaukee's Sarah Hagen (Appleton North) and Marquette's Kerry McBride (Elm Grove/Milwaukee DSHA).
After claiming a bevy of preseason awards, the senior standouts earned more for their efforts during the first weekend of the season.
Hagen (left) was named the Horizon League Player of the Week once again after scoring twice and setting up the Panthers' other goal in a 3-2 road victory over Michigan State in a season opener last Friday. Hagen, the leading scorer in UWM and Horizon League history, has won the weekly award a whopping 12 times – no one else has done so more than six times.
McBride (right), meanwhile, was the Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Week after leading the Golden Eagles' backline to two 1-0 wins over Western Michigan and Northwestern from her sweeper position. Marquette allowed just nine shots in the shutouts, with only two shots on goal.
Hagen and McBride also made the Soccer America Team of the Week for their performances.
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Marquette senior goalkeeper Natalie Kulla, who extended her program record for shutouts to 34, was named the Big East Goalkeeper of the Week.
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Loyola (Ill.) freshman goalkeeper Monica Gonyo (Waukesha Catholic Memorial) and UW-Green Bay sophomore forward Hekla Palmadottir were tabbed as "Top Performers for the Week" in the Horizon League. Gonyo stopped all five shots she faced to post clean sheets in her first two collegiate matches, 1-0 victories over Bowling Green and Gonzaga. Palmadottir, a converted defender from Iceland, scored both goals in the Phoenix's 2-0 win over Nebraska-Omaha.
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Creighton senior forward Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) was named to the Soccer America Preseason All-American team.
Final preparations
A trio of newcomers, sophomore midfielder Ryan Buda (Stevens Point), sophomore forward Mike Roettgers (Wauwatosa/Milwaukee Marquette) and freshman Jacob Brindle, had goals as the University of Wisconsin dropped Loyola (Ill.) 3-0 in its exhibition finale Tuesday at the McClimon Complex.
Buda, a transfer from Evansville, took a pass from sophomore defender Derek Pitts (Middleton) and scored from the top of the box in the 20th minute and also set up Brindle's goal in the 83rd. Roettgers, a transfer from Saint Louis, finished off a pass from senior Colin Mani (Madison Edgewood) in the 80th.
The Badgers (1-0-1) didn't allow a goal in two exhibition matches. Sophomore goalkeeper Ciro Martinez, a transfer from Florida Atlantic, played the first half and senior Jamal Habibi made three saves in the second half to finish off the shutout.
"It was great to see," said Badgers coach John Trask, whose team plays host to Western Illinois at 7 p.m. Saturday in its season opener. "All across the board, we were really pleased with the performance today. ... I was really pleased with our defense. We will bend a little bit, but we won’t break."
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Junior Cody Banks (Madison Memorial) scored the lone goal on a drive from more than 35 yards out in the first half as UW-Milwaukee blanked NCAA Division II Lewis (Ill.) 1-0 Monday in its final exhibition match in Romeoville, Ill. Junior John Shakon and freshman Josh Rohde (Waukesha West) combined on the shutout and got some help from freshman defender Adam Hutchinson, who cleared a ball off the line late to help seal the victory. "I think it was a typical preseason game," UWM coach Chris Whalley said. "There were mistakes by both teams. I don't feel like we were at our sharpest but scored a very good goal. I felt for the most part we dominated the game with our possession. We're still ironing out some creases and need to get ourselves a little bit sharper, but all in all, I think it was a decent show from the boys." The Panthers open the regular season at 4:30 p.m. Friday against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne at home at Engelmann Stadium.
Poll position
Big Ten Conference men's coaches don't expect UW to move up the league standings this season.
The Badgers were seventh in the annual coaches' preseason poll, matching their last-place finish from 2010. Defending champion Indiana was the favorite, followed by Ohio State and Penn State.
Sophomore forward Chris Prince, UW's leading scorer last season, senior forward Josh Thiermann (Stoughton) and junior midfielder Tomislav Zadro, a transfer from Illinois Central, were the Badgers' representatives on the Big Ten Players to Watch list.
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The Concordia men's team was picked to finish second in the Northern Athletics Conference, with Milwaukee School of Engineering fourth, Edgewood College fifth, Marian seventh, Lakeland eighth, Wisconsin Lutheran ninth and Maranatha Baptist 11th in the 12-team league. Dominican (Ill.), which has won every NAC title and is 50-0-2 since the conference was formed in 2006, was the overwhelming favorite in the annual coaches' preseason poll.
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Edgewood led the state representatives in the NAC women's coaches' preseason poll, picked to finish third in the 13-team circuit. MSOE checked in at No. 4 and received one first-place vote, while Concordia was fifth, Marian sixth, Maranatha Baptist eighth, Alverno ninth, Lakeland 10th and Wisconsin Lutheran 11th. Five-time defending champion Aurora (Ill.), which has lost only two matches in NAC history, was favored to win the title with Dominican second.
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Carroll edged out reigning Ripon for the top spot in the Midwest Conference men's preseason coaches' poll. The Pioneers received five of the 10 first-place votes, while the Red Hawks got three and third-place Lake Forest claimed two. Lawrence was picked fifth, followed by St. Norbert sixth and Beloit College seventh.
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Marquette remained No. 12 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, while UW-Milwaukee was among other teams receiving votes. The Golden Eagles also moved up one spot to No. 13 in the Soccer America rankings. In the NSCAA regional rankings, Marquette is second in the Northeast and UWM is third in the Great Lakes.
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