MILWAUKEE - Maria Stephans scored in the 59th minute and the defense did the rest from there as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team claimed a hard-fought win over Illinois State, 2-1 Wednesday night at Engelmann Stadium.

The win is a big one for the Panthers (5-7-0), who dominated the game in the early going before holding off a late push from a very talented Redbird (7-5-0) squad.

Paige Lincicum came up big countless times on the night, registering a season-high nine saves. 

Kelly Lewers also scored for UWM on the night, registering her fifth goal of the season, tied for the team lead.

"I'm proud of this team," Milwaukee head coach Greg Henschel said. "They just keep fighting and keep battling and I think that showed.

"I was really proud of the team in how we handled all 90 minutes tonight."

Milwaukee came out of the gates strong. With the exception of a Lincicum save in the game's opening minutes, the Panthers seemingly had the ball in their attacking area for the first 25 minutes of the match. 

It seemed only a matter of time before the UWM offense would be able to break through and that moment came in the 28th minute.Anna Smalley sent a ball into the box to Morgan LaPlant, who flicked it on to Lewers. With a defender on her back, Lewers made an impressive turn with the ball at her feet and fired to give Milwaukee the 1-0 lead at the 27:05 mark.

Illinois State was able to answer back, however, just over eight minutes later. Dagny Olson sent in a long feed into the box intended for Rachel Tejada. Lincicum came off her line and made a diving attempt at it but Tejada just got a touch to it, getting a shot off from a tough angle for her 10th goal of the season.

After halftime, the Milwaukee offense was back on the attack. It looked like Lewers had scored again just over two minutes into the second half but her shot that found the back of the net did not count after being flagged for offside.

That certainly didn't slow down UWM, though. Krissy Dorre had back-to-back great chances with a blast in the 49th minute that was saved by ISU keeper Aryn Newsome, followed by a curling shot in the 57th that hooked just over the far corner of the frame.

The Panthers push finally cracked the Redbird defense in the 59th minute. Taking a throw in near the corner, Dorre laid the ball off to LaPlant, who whipped the ball into the box. Stephans made a hard charge and got a foot on it mid-air, beautifully placing the ball in the side netting where the keeper had no chance to restake the lead at 58:41.

From there, the UWM defense came up big time and time again.

Lincicum made five of her nine saves in the final 25 minutes of the match, while the defense also blocked numerous shots to preserve the win.

Illinois State actually outshot Milwaukee on the night, 17-15, and led the corner kick count, 7-4. The Panthers had a 9-6 edge in shots, while ISU was whistled for 10 fouls to UWM's five.

It's right back to conference play for Milwaukee as they welcome Cleveland State to campus Saturday for a 4 p.m. kickoff from Engelmann Stadium. Saturday's match will also serve as senior day for the Panthers.