MILWAUKEE - Senior Declan Rodriguez netted a pair of goals and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team rolled up its highest goal total in a season opener in 19 years in cruising to a 5-2 victory over the University of Evansville Friday night at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (1-0) led the Purple Aces (0-1) by a score of 2-1 at halftime and kept the pressure up all night, outshooting the visitors by a count of 27-to-13 on the night – the team's highest shot total in 27 games.
 
"It's a great result for us," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "Going into the first game, a lot of new guys, a very young team, not knowing really what to expect. A lot of nerves out there and we were a little shaky the first minute and a half of the game but it got a lot better from there. We are very pleased with everybody – all 11 guys and the reserves played a very good part as well."
 
Rodriguez became the first Panther to score twice in a season opener since 2010. Freshman Matthias Binder joined in on the action with a goal and an assist. Classmate Francesco Saporito and senior Aaron Horvat closed out the scoring as Milwaukee netted five goals in a season opener for the first time since a 5-0 win over Northwestern in the 1996 opener. The five tallies is also the second-highest in an opener, trailing only the 7-0 win that UWM claimed over Central Michigan to open the 1984 campaign.
 
"That was one area (scoring) that we really felt we needed to improve on from last year," Kelderman said. "We wanted to create more chances and to finish them. We had five and we really should have had a couple more. On the offensive side of things, it was very good tonight."
 
Senior Agustin Rey got the start in goal and came up big early. He found himself all alone in a 1 v. 1 situation just 67 seconds in, but made the save. The rebound was also put on frame and Rey stopped that one as well to keep it 0-0 on the scoreboard. He ended the evening with six saves.
 
"He got off to a really good start," Kelderman said. "If they score a goal early, who knows what happens from there. A very good performance from him. The two goals that Evansville scored were very nice goals."
 
Rodriguez went high over a defender to head in the opening goal at the 10:48 mark, finishing a nice serve off the foot of freshman Sean Holmes from the sideline.
 
Binder then took care of business on a 40-yard free kick, sneaking it in the left side to make it 2-0 at the 22:12 mark.
 
The Purple Aces made it a game in the 37^th minute, scoring on a nice one-two effort in front to make it 2-1 headed into intermission.
 
The Panthers turned it up in the second, with Rodriguez finishing nicely after collecting a pass from Binder that the backline defender could not handle. Saporito then found himself in the right place at the right time, making it 4-1 when he collected a loose ball following a free kick and buried it inside the right post at the 71:28 mark.
 
Evansville found the net again in the 75^th, only to see Horvat respond in the 80^th with a one-timer in front after a nice buildup from sophomores Reid Stevenson and Nick Moon.
 
The shot count was 27-13, with 18-8 advantage in shots on target. The 27 shots were the most since also firing off 27 against Green Bay October 8, 2013. Rodriguez led the charge with six. Moon and Binder both finished with five. UWM also had 12 of the 13 corner kicks in the game.
 
Matthew Keller recorded 12 saves in net for the Purple Aces, also getting help from a backline defender after sophomore Kostas Kotselas' header was past him and on its way into the net.
 
The Panthers can enjoy the win briefly before heading off to Nebraska to take on No. 6 Creighton University Sunday. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.