Oct. 13, 2002

Box Score

In a case of "too little, too late", the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team couldn't find the net late in the match as the visiting Badgers of the University of Wisconsin held on for a hard-fought 1-0 victory here Sunday (Oct. 13). The loss breaks a six-game unbeaten streak for UWM, who falls to 6-5-2 on the season. Meanwhile, Wisconsin improves to 7-5-3 on the year.

"It's always tough to lose and we came away with a tie (Friday versus Minnesota) and a loss this weekend even though we played well enough," UWM head coach Michael Moynihan said. "We play these types of teams to get better for the conference season and I think it helps. Wisconsin is very strong and athletic and we know their players well. We just couldn't find the net even though we were knocking on the door in the second half."

Wisconsin looked to take control of the game early, using superior size and strength to control the tempo of the match. UW used strong midfield play from Amy Vermeulen and Jenny Kundert to create scoring chances from the get-go. Then, with 12:47 gone in the contest, the Badgers took advantage of one of those chances when Vermeulen found the back of the net from 18vyards out. The sophomore settled a pass from Jessica Wolfe and rifled a blast past UWM keeper Mary Duffy for the 1-0 lead.

UW continued to threaten throughout the first stanza but the Panther defense held strong as the two teams went into the locker room with the score standing at 1-0. Wisconsin outshot UWM seven-to-two in the first 45 minutes while registering four corner kicks to Milwaukee's three.

Milwaukee looked like a different team in the second half as head coach Michael Moynihan made some nice halftime adjustments. UWM controlled the run of play the majority of the half and created numerous scoring opportunities. The Panthers outshot the visitors five-to-three in the half, three of which required saves by Badger goalie Kelly Conway.

The Panthers increased the pressure even more during the final ten minutes but couldn't crack the strong UW defense. Milwaukee's Sara Lewis nearly tied the game at the 3:05 mark when her improbable, back-to-the-goal bicycle kick was punched over the net by Conway. On the day, UW registered 10 shots to seven for the hosts while Milwaukee took seven corner kicks to three by the Badgers.

"Overall, I was pretty pleased with our performance," Moynihan noted. "I like the intensity we displayed all match and I think we solved a lot of our first half problems at halftime. Early on we let them out of some situations and that hurt us, especially on the goal they scored."

Milwaukee will return to Horizon League play this week with a rare Thursday (Oct. 17) night matchup. UWM will head down to Chicago to face Loyola University in a 7 p.m. contest under the lights.