Panthers Beat Buzzer For Thrilling Win

by Chris Zills
August 31, 2012

MILWAUKEE - Freshman Pol Narbona scored the game-winner as time expired to give the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team a dramatic 3-2 victory over IUPUI Friday night at the 38th Panther Invitational at Engelmann Stadium.

The Panthers (2-1-0) held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 over the Jaguars (1-2-), but the game was not decided until the final second when Narbona came flying towards the end line and buried the first goal of his collegiate career right before the horn sounded to the delight of the home crowd.

"It's much nicer to be on this side of it than the side we experienced at Marquette," UWM head coach Kris Kelderman said. "The guys fought to the very end and overall I thought it was a good performance. No disrespect to our opponent, I thought it was a win that we deserved. It came down to the last second again. I had never experienced that before last weekend and now it's the second time - it was a good win for us."

Sophomore Laurie Bell and freshman Aaron Horvat both picked up a goal and an assist in the win. The game marked the second time in just three outings so far this season for UWM where the final tally was scored at 89:59.

With time running down, junior Robbie Boyd found a streaking Horvat on a long serve to the box. His initial shot attempt was stopped by the keeper, but the ball was loose and Narbona came flying through to send the Panthers home a winner.

"I thought we started playing really well as the game went on," Kelderman said. "We got the lead and they kept hanging in there. They are very dangerous in transition, dangerous on restarts, and they kept coming back and made the game tough."

Tied, 1-1, after intermission, Milwaukee retook the lead on Horvath's first career goal. Bell picked off an IUPUI pass in the attacking third and sent the ball to Horvat down the right wing. He took a few quick touches and sent the shot to the far post, banging in off the frame at the 52:31 mark.

IUPUI would not go quietly, finding the equalizer for the second time in a penalty kick situation in the 64th minute after a handball in the box was called on UWM.

Senior goalkeeper John Shakon was up to the initial task, easily stopping the PK attempt. The rebound, however, went right back to Kyle Hyland who netted it at the 63:47 mark.

"The two goals I thought were unfortunate and you can't really point the finger at anybody," Kelderman said. "John bailed us out on the PK and made a great save and then we let him down by not reacting properly on the rebound."

Shakon made five saves in the game, with a pair of other impressive stops besides the one on the PK. In the 59th minute, he made a great stop of a header at the far post off a corner kick. And then, early on, he made a fingertip save of a shot on a breakaway to keep the match scoreless in just the third minute.

Bell gave the Panthers their first lead of the night on a penalty kick of his own. Boyd created the opportunity, darting into the box with possession before getting tripped up on his way to the goal. The PK was one of a team-high six shots for Bell, who nearly had goals on a far-post volley off a corner kick in the 34th minute and also off a rifled free kick in the 15th minute that was pushed just over the bar.

For the game, UWM put up a staggering 26-to-10 advantage in shots, including 13-to-7 in shots on target. It also came up with eight of the 10 corner kicks and a sizeable majority of possession on the night.

The Panthers will wrap up the weekend on Sunday, taking on Eastern Illinois at 2:30 p.m. to close out the 38th Panther Invitational. In the opening contest Friday, EIU fell to Canisius, 4-3, after trailing 3-0 before coming all the way back to tie the match. IUPUI will take on Canisius in the opener at noon.

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