It took opponents of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s soccer team 717 minutes to score, but when a team finally did, it was a heartbreaking goal.

The UWM women’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Marquette at Valley Field in the second round of the NCAA soccer tournament.

The goal came with 20 seconds left in regulation and UWM was officially eliminated from the tournament. The Panthers end the season with a record of 12-5-5.

Freshman goalkeeper Erin Kane could not keep up her recent success shutting out teams as Marquette’s Meghan Connelly found a way to put the ball past her.

Kane came out of her goal to play the ball and one of her teammates tried to clear it out of danger, however cleared it right to Connelly. Connelly put a shot to the far post for the goal.

Coach Michael Moynihan was surprised at the outcome of the match and thought the Panthers outplayed Marquette.

“Except for the opening minutes when (Christy) Zwolski was creating, we were able to shut that down and I really never felt threatened,” Moynihan said. “I thought we had the better offensive chances, had the pace of play and possessed the ball more.”

UWM had a chance to take the lead in the first half at the 37-minute mark. Junior Brenda Neigbauer hit the crossbar on a shot from the corner. The rebound was cleared out by Marquette.

In the second half, UWM had two more chances to score. Senior Kitty Montgomery received a long pass and took an open shot that was saved at the near post. Sophomore Sarah Freidel sent a nice cross to Bailey Briggs in the air. Briggs took a header that sailed just wide of the net.

“I think our team came into the game thinking we could beat this team,” Moynihan said. “We came out and created most of the dangerous chances.”

Marquette, ranked 17th nationally, will face No. 4 UCLA Saturday in Los Angeles, Calif.

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