DAYTON, Ohio - Peter Raymonds gave the men's soccer team the 1-0 lead with a goal just seconds before halftime, but UIC found a late second-half equalizer and sent Milwaukee home in the toughest of fashions, netting the golden goal in the 98^th minute to survive with a 2-1 victory in overtime Thursday at Alumni Field.
 
The Panthers (8-8-3) put themselves in position to knock off the No. 2-seeded Flames (8-7-3), but were unable to hold on before heading to overtime for the third time in their last four games.
 
"That was just another outstanding effort," Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman said. "You could see as the game was going on, fatigue was setting in. We had played a quarterfinal match two days ago that went into double-overtime and UIC had been sitting back and waiting for us for a week. We had a couple of really good opportunities late that could have won us the game. I think that's why the guys are so disappointed. Not so much in losing the game, but we had some really good chances to put that one away."
 
The loss ends the 2016 season one game short of the Horizon League Tournament Championship.
 
"You say as a coach, development and getting better is priority No. 1," Kelderman said. "There was clearly a path of improvement from the beginning of the season to the end. We are excited about the future for this team. The season ends with disappointment, but with our heads held high."
 
Raymonds turned the fortunes of his team around with a great goal to grab momentum. Matthias Binder picked up a turnover in back and played the ball forward to Evan Dujardin. He took one touch and found Raymonds on top, open for the breakaway.
 
From there it was all Raymonds, beating Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year Andrew Putna, who had come charging off his line. The fleet-footed sophomore, who had just subbed on in the 39^th minute, struck a left-footed shot that hit the back of the net at the 44:35 mark.
 
Despite back-and-forth action all half, that shot attempt was the first of the game for UWM, which trailed in that category by a 6-to-1 count at intermission, but led 1-0 on the scoreboard.
 
Goalkeeper Oliver Haslund ended the day with five saves, none more spectacular than in the 37^th minute when he made a sprawling, diving stop to keep a header by Max Todd from finding its target. Haslund turned away Todd with a quality save again in the 59^th minute.
 
Things stayed that way on the scoreboard until into the final quarter of action. UIC found a way to equalize, heading in a free kick in the 74^th minute, just barely past the outstretched arms of Haslund to make it 1-1.
 
Both teams had 15 minutes to find a winner, but neither could prevent the overtime sessions. Nick Moon and Francesco Saporito played a nice give-and-go in the 78^th minute, only to see Moon's toe poke go wide. Jaime Colin also gave it a go in the 84^th, finishing off a nice run just wide of target.
 
UIC was the only team to have any chances in the final minutes of regulation, but the UWM defense was up to the task, forcing the final three attempts wide in front of the horn.
 
The winning goal came on a counter attack, with Oscar Gonzalez somehow sending his shot from the right wing back to the opposite side, past the defense and a diving attempt from Haslund just inside the left post.
 
For the game, UIC finished with the 18-to-6 advantage in shots, including 7-to-1 in shots on target. Both teams had three corner kicks.
 
Picked sixth in the preseason poll, Kelderman led his team to a second-place finish in the regular season at 5-3-1 (No. 3 seed after tiebreaker), while playing seven freshmen on a regular basis, while also having to deal with numerous injuries to key players.
 
"We could not be more proud of the effort from the guys to finish the season off," Kelderman said. "Picked where we were – to finish how we did and make it to the semifinals of the conference tournament without any seniors on this team … we are very proud of the finish."