It took 94 minutes of soccer at the Horizon League Conference Tournament to determine the game’s outcome, and unfortunately for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s soccer team, they came up on the short end of a 1-0 overtime thriller against the University of Illinois at Chicago.

With the stakes as high as they have been all season for both teams, UIC freshman forward Kevin Stoll was able to net the game-winner just four minutes into overtime. The goal came when the Flames played a corner kick back to the wing, lofted the ball into the box and had it redirected right to the foot of Stoll.

Panther Head Coach Jon Coleman said the loss was unfortunate given the team’s performance.

“It’s unfortunate that at this time of year somebody has to be a winner and somebody has to be a loser,” said Coleman. “The team played well and really fought hard. It’s a disappointing loss, obviously.”

Junior goalkeeper Grant Fernstrum kept the Panthers in the game as best he could, facing 10 total shots, five of them being on goal. Just two minutes before the game-winner, he was forced to make a full-on diving save on a close-range header to keep the game scoreless. Fernstrum also made a key save two minutes before the end of regulation time, pushing away a free kick opportunity by the Flames.

It was a disappointing conclusion to a season that had really turned around for UWM. Starting the year 0-8-0 before even entering conference play, the team finished with a record of 5-12-3, including a 5-2-2 record in conference play.

Coleman said he was proud of the team’s turnaround despite the season’s end.

“We put ourselves in a good situation to advance, we just got a little careless at the end,” said Coleman. “I want to thank the seniors for all their hard work and their commitment to the team.”

The Panthers will lose eight players to graduation next season, including First Team All-Horizon League players Steve Bode and Zeke Dombrowski. The other seniors on the team are Chris Lins, Martin Castro, Ken Ogorzalek, Tenzin Rampa, Dan Horst and Troy Spielmann.

The Conference championship match will be between third-seeded UIC and fourth-seeded UW-Green Bay, who knocked off host Loyola in the semifinals.

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