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2-goal deficit dooms Milwaukee
No. 16 Panthers fall to Michigan St.
By Mike Kennedy
When the UW-Milwaukee women’s soccer team scored first in games this season they were an incredible 18-0-0. When their opponents scored first they were 0-3-2. Unfortunately for the Panthers, their first round NCAA Tournament matchup with Michigan St. followed suit as Milwaukee allowed the Spartans to score first on the way to a 2-1 loss.
On a cold and rainy day in South Bend, Ind., home of host and No. 1 team in the country Notre Dame, the Panthers faced off with their fourth Big Ten opponent of the year. Going into the match Milwaukee had beaten all three of their previous Big Ten opponents in Ohio St., Northwestern and Wisconsin.
It was meant to be a freshman battle from the beginning, with Sarah Hagen leading the country in goals going up against Michigan St.’s freshman forward Laura Heyboer who is a close second to in goals scored. Again, Milwaukee fell on the down side of this matchup as it was Heyboer who put in her 20th and 21st goals of the season.
Milwaukee controlled the pace of the game early on, getting three shots in the first four minutes of play. That was until Heyboer came through in the 10th minute on a fake around the defender and over Erin Kane’s head to give the Spartans an early 1-0 lead.
After the goal, Milwaukee still had the majority of the momentum as they forced 12 shots in the first half, four of which Spartan keeper Jill Fliestra had to save. However, the Panthers were unable to get rid of the goose egg in the first half.
Out of the half, the Panthers never seemed to get their composure. Michigan St. had numerous opportunities to blow the game wide-open, but with arguably the best goalkeeper in Horizon League history in front of the net, the Panthers were given life by Kane and kept the game within striking distance. The bad news was that strikes never came.
Kane couldn’t hold off Michigan St. by herself. Heyboer tallied her second goal of the game in the 74th minute on a low shot to the left side just out of reach from a diving Kane.
Despite out-shooting the Spartans 19-15 and taking the advantage on corner kicks 8-2 the Panthers never found the back of the net. Hagen had a team-high four shots and in all nine different Panthers took a shot.
Their only goal of the game came in the 87th minute when a Spartan defender headed the ball into their own goal, giving the Panthers a slight glimpse of hope.
Looking at the stat sheet one would think this game was a defensive battle, but it was more of an offensive game that saw missed opportunities and poor finishes by each side. The final score should have been 5-4, or possibly 5-5, but a number of shots ricocheted off the cross bar and posts leaving each goalkeeper with a sigh of relief.
In the end, the Panthers watched Michigan St. advance to play the No. 1 overall seed in Notre Dame, who finished off Toledo in the first round 5-2. Notre Dame eventually knocked off Michigan St. in the second round by a score of 1-0 and will face Minnesota in the third round this Friday.
Nationally ranked No. 16 in the NSCAA/Adidas poll, the Panthers finished the season setting six school-records including 18 wins, .804 winning percentage, 23 games played, 65 goals, 70 assists and 200 points.
The loss is the first loss to a Big Ten school in over two years, dating back to September of 2006. It also gives the Panthers an overall NCAA Tournament record of 0-6-2.
Milwaukee will only say goodbye to five seniors including Erin Kane, Sarah Teegarden, Beth Steuer, Jodi Klagos and Andrea Wisniewski.
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