They had a lot to prove out there on the field this weekend.

The Milwaukee Panther Club Lacrosse team had never defeated UW-Whitewater, hadn’t beaten Mad Cow in two years, and hadn’t even played the host school, Marquette. So when the schedule came out for the Marquette Border Bash Lacrosse Tournament, fans of Milwaukee realized that the mountain ahead was going to be tough to climb.

Showing those fans that they were up to the challenge, the Panthers claimed the Border Bash tournament victory with a 5-4 victory over Marquette in the Championship Game Saturday evening.

The Panthers defeated Mad Cow Lacrosse, 13-7 on Thursday night at the Milwaukee Athletic Complex in the first round of the tournament behind the stellar play of attacker Jack Peterson, who tallied a goal and two assists. Friday at Valley Fields, however, another multi-point performance by Peterson would be enough as UWM suffered a heart breaking 5-4 loss to the hands of their cross-town rival, Marquette.

By the end of the third stanza, the Panthers dominated play for nearly all of the first three and a half quarters, earning a 4-2 lead. After falling behind 2-1 early in the second quarter, the Panthers tied it up on a beautiful play by #1, who cut towards the middle from the right side of the crease, evaded a defender with an impressive spin move and put home the equalizer. The Panthers would take the lead just a few minutes later on a back-door pass that gave the Panthers the lead at the half.

UWM would extend that lead to two in the third. The game appeared to be well in hand as the Panthers played rock solid D and possessed the ball well until the five minute mark in the final period of play. Panther goalie #19 was beaten on a bounce shot that took a tricky hop on him and just managed to sneak through to pull the Golden Eagles to within one with nearly 4 minutes remaining.

The Panther defense responded by stiffening and giving the offense chances to widen the margin. The offense gave themselves plenty of opportunities to score extra insurance goals but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net, missing wide open shots at the goal twice.

Marquette would earn the equalizer with two minutes remaining in the game. With a minute and a half remaining goalie #19 made a beautiful save but when the zone cleared and he attempted to pass, the defenseman missed a slightly high pass and the ball rolled out of bounds turning possession over to the Golden Eagles. The Panthers defense withstood the initial attack, but Marquette would regain possession after their first attempt on goal and finally put in what turned out to be the game winner with 57 seconds left on the clock.

Following the loss to the Golden Eagles on Friday, the Panthers regrouped to play UW-Whitewater on Saturday morning. With a spot in the championship game at stake, the Panthers were facing an uphill battle, as they never had beaten the Warhawks before.

Jack Peterson led the charge on the Warhawks with three goals and two assists. Corey Nelson had two goals as well, and Eriks Pukite added two assists as the Panthers defeated their biggest rivals at Valley Fields, 11-2.

Saturday afternoon, the Panthers were looking at their biggest challenge yet. The Golden Eagles, still smarting over their comeback victory on Friday, scored in the second quarter to take the lead, 2-1. The Panthers answered, scoring two goals in the next quarter and taking a 2-1 lead.

After that, the teams exchanged blows in the third quarter, playing to a dead-even tie with 5 minutes remaining. The game went back and forth, with both teams having opportunities fall by the wayside. Then, with only 18 seconds left, Panther attacker Clay Bernard scored the tournament-clinching goal. It was the first tournament victory in club history, as well as the first victory over Marquette.

Prove? The Panthers no longer have anything to prove.

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