University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s soccer Head Coach Jon Coleman constantly talks about the importance of peaking at the right time. Believe it or not, it appears that his team is doing just that.

Scoring two goals in a tie against Northern Illinois a week ago and beating conference foe Loyola 1-0 finally got this team to break out of there funk, so to speak. Carrying off those two games, Wednesday night’s game against Marquette University was arguably the Panther’s best performance all season. Unfortunately for UWM, it happened to not end the way they desired.

Despite having numerous scoring chances in both the halves, the home team at Engelmann Field came up on the short end of a fast-paced 2-0 thriller.

“I thought we created some good chances, but we were just a bit unlucky. It just didn’t seem to be our night. We hit the post, I think we hit everything but the back of the net,” Coleman said after the game.

Senior Adam Skalecki hit the post in the first half, and Golden Eagle goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski needed a fabulous save on his shot, with just under four minutes to play, to keep the Panthers off the board.

This game had more to it besides just a game as UWM sported one-time-only Puma jerseys to be auctioned off during the game, with proceeds going to Grassroot Soccer.

Coleman called the outreach a great success after the game.

“I think it’s great. (Assistant) Coach Dadaian did a fantastic job and we were able to bring one of our alumni back to help with the cause; Khalid El-Ahmad,” Coleman said. “Any opportunity we have to give back to people in need is important. I think it’s important for the program as well.”

All jerseys were auctioned off during the game and the total earnings were reported to be near $2,000.

The loss drops UWM’s record to 4-7-5 and gives the coveted Milwaukee Cup back to Marquette for the first time since 2003. It is the first time former UWM Head Coach Louis Bennett has earned the trophy since his move to the other side of Interstate-43.