Nov. 23, 2001

St. Louis-A header in the 99th minute allowed UMKC the golden-goal victory over UWM, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night at host Saint Louis. The No. 19 Panthers finish their season at 18-5 while the University of Missouri-Kansas City advances to the second-round for a matchup with the Billikens on Sunday.

Sophomore defender Jason Woods scored the gamewinner in the first overtime off assists from Dan Hilson and Mike Reiter. The goal came when Hilson played a corner kick to Reiter, who crossed it into the center of the box. Woods got up over the defense and headed it past UWM goalkeeper Chris Dadaian to end the game.

"It's a disappointment we lost, but I don't think we were good enough today to win," UWM coach Louis Bennett said. "It's extrememly disappointing for us because we were probably the favorites going into this game and they were the underdogs. Usually it's the other way around. This is one of those games that got away from us."

The Panthers scored first in the 48th minute when Chad Dombrowski cracked a shot from the corner of the box off an assist from B.J. Blake. Blake first received the ball when Chris Brisson switched it to the right side from midfield, and Blake laid it back to an on-running Dombrowski. Dombrowski struck it first time, perfectly hitting it to the far upper corner of the net past goalkeeper Beau Williams.

UMKC got the equalizer just 10 minutes later when forward Drew Perkins knocked in a cross from Woods. Woods beat a UWM defender one-on-one down the left side and passed it low across the box, giving Perkins the goal from eight yards out.

"We had a good first half, but we stopped doing the things that made us successful. They played the same way throughout the whole game, for good or for bad, and just stuck with it. We just lost our way a bit in the second half,"

UWM kept UMKC on its heels in the first half, outshooting the Kangaroos, 7-1, and forcing goalkeeper Beau Williams to make five saves. UMKC got into the game early in the second half, but threatened the Panthers a lot more dangerously with about 15 minutes remaining in regulation. The 'Roos kept that momentum into overtime.

"There were spells of the game I thought we had UMKC down, but they wouldn't go away," Bennett said. "Though we pretty much controlled the first half, they were willing to work and get back in the game. They played consistent and worked diligently, even when things weren't going well. There was even a stretch in the second half when they had a lot of momentum and we were left scrambling."

The Kangaroos had a few good opportunities in the second half, including a pass across the open box from Larry Scheller that squirted through untouched. Scheller had two chances himself off of breakaways, but Dadaian came out to smother his dribble on one chance while defender Ian Hoelker caught up to clear the other chance deep in the box.

The Panthers outshot the Kangaroos, 14-7, overall on the game. Dadaian's first half save came as his only one, while Williams tallied eight saves.

Ryan Seymour led UWM with three shots, including one in overtime. Seymour gave UWM a couple good opportunities, including one that hit the post near the end of the first half. In the 77th minute, he headed a cross from Kyle Lance that forced Williams to make a diving save.

This is the first game of the season that UWM lost after scoring first. Milwaukee was previously 15-0 in games it recorded the first goal.