Panthers Respond After Early Deficit

October 21, 2017

DETROIT, Mich. - The Milwaukee men's soccer team scored three unanswered goals to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Titans Field.
 
"Very excited with the result," Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman said. "We knew coming into the game that three points would be absolutely huge for us at this point in the season. With how the standings look, and everything being such a tight race, we knew this would be a huge match for us."
 
The Panthers (8-5-2, 4-3-0 Horizon League) fell behind the Titans (6-5-3, 3-3-1 Horizon League) on a 21st-minute penalty kick, only to have the game tied before intermission en route to two more second-half goals.
 
"We came in with the right mentality, good energy and a good game plan," Kelderman said. "Unfortunately, we gifted them their first goal with a mishap on our part, but we responded well and made up for it."
 
The victory is Milwaukee's fourth in a row in conference play and also its fifth win in the past six games overall. It also marked the first home loss of the fall for UDM, who had been 5-0 at Titan Field.
 
Following a back-and-forth start, a handball in the box led to the Titan penalty kick, converted at the 20:55 mark.
 
The Panthers responded well, tying the game before intermission on a rocket off the foot of Nick Moon. Vuk Latinovich took possession near midfield and played a long ball to Jaime Colin. Colin's first touch was a square-ball to the top of the box, where Moon was waiting to one-time it inside the right post for his fourth goal of the season.
 
Milwaukee picked up the offense even more after halftime, outshooting the hosts 11-to-4 in the second half alone. Magnus Flaatedal sent one of those attempts on frame in the 58th minute, with the partially-saved rebound coming back to Reid Stevenson. Stevenson pounced and fired, giving UWM the 2-1 lead at the 57:23 mark.
 
Not done there, one of Moon's attempts hit the crossbar, where Stevenson was there again to head forward to Evan Conway. Conway made quick work of the assist, bagging his team-leading sixth of the season to close out the scoring at the 65:22 mark.
 
"The three goals that were scored were very nice," Kelderman said. "We knew playing against UDM would be a physical match. I thought as the game went on, it opened up and we got some really good opportunities and could have gotten that fourth goal to put the game out of reach."
 
On the day, the Panthers ended with advantage of 18-to-11 in shots, 7-to-5 in shots on goal and 6-to-3 in corner kicks. Moon had a team-high four shots – three on goal – while Stevenson ended the afternoon with a goal and an assist in just 24 minutes of action.
 
"Very excited for the guys, we are on a bit of a roll here and we have to not get too high and stay on track," Kelderman said. "We have to realize the things we are doing well and carry that on to the next – one game at a time with Wisconsin next."
 
As stated, the Panthers play their final non-conference home game of the season next. They welcome the Wisconsin Badgers to Engelmann Stadium Tuesday at 7 p.m.
 

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