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Unlucky Bounces Doom Panthers
Men fail to reclaim Chancellor’s Cup
By Tim Prahl
It was what every fan loves to see at any sporting event. The stands at Engelmann Field were overflowing with spectators. The game was a nail biter in the truest sense of the word. After the final whistle, the winning team ran over to the “student section” and embraced those who cheered them on throughout the match while singing the famous “Ole” song. Unfortunately for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fans, it was not their team practicing their singing voices after the game clock struck 90:00.
In what has become a heated rivalry with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Panthers have dominated the matchup over the past decade. In fact, in the battle for the Chancellor’s Cup, UWM had won eight of the last nine, and 23 of the overall 37 matchups. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, Saturday night was a different story.
The Phoenix came out firing on all cylinders, controlling the majority of the action early on. In the 33rd minute, that early aggressiveness merited Green Bay with one of their nine corner kicks of the match. In an attempt to clear the ball from danger, a UWM defender struck his head on the ball but sent it in the wrong direction. The ball bounced off the left post, and senior goalkeeper Ryan Germann was able to get his hands on it, but not before the ball crossed the goal line.
The Panthers nearly answered back a few minutes later as a devilish ball was sent into the UWGB penalty box. Phoenix goalkeeper Adam Stikl committed to the play and fell down with the ball rolling behind him toward the net. Thanks to some helpful defending and a bit of tangled feet, the ball was cleared without any real damage.
The second half was a different story. For as much as Green Bay possessed the ball before the intermission, they dispossessed it after. Milwaukee had attack after attack, but just could not put the finishing touch on their efforts.
Green Bay added an insurance goal in the 89th minute and were able to leave town with a 2-0 victory.
“After coming off a difficult game against Madison I think the guys showed a lot of heart and a lot of commitment,” said Panthers Head Coach Jon Coleman. “We dominated the second half, created multiple opportunities, chased the game, and unfortunately (came up) a bit unlucky.”
The Panthers fell to 4-5-3 overall and 2-1-1 in Horizon League play. UWM will battle for another piece of hardware this Tuesday at 7 p.m., hosting Northern Illinois for the LeWang Trophy before traveling to Loyola this Saturday.
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