Oct. 26, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team was upset 1-0 by UW-Green Bay in overtime on Wednesday night at Santaga Stadium. The Phoenix (8-7-0, 3-4-0 Horizon) scored at the 96:14 mark to claim the victory and the Chancellor's Cup. The loss dashes the Panthers (9-4-4, 4-2-1 Horizon) hopes of winning a fifth-straight Horizon League Championship.

"I was bitterly disappointed with the loss," Milwaukee head coach Louis Bennett said. "The game never went the way that we wanted it to go. Our `tradition' of not playing very well under the lights continues."

Neither team had much of an opportunity in the overtime session until the golden goal was scored. In the 97th minute, Green Bay's Jamari Brinson settled a centering pass in the attacking third and blasted a 35-yard shot to the bottom left-hand corner of the goal that snuck by freshman goalkeeper Grant Fernstrum for the victory.

The win snaps what was an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) that UWM had in the series and returns the Chancellor's Cup to UWGB. The last time that the Phoenix beat the Panthers before tonight: 1-0 on Oct. 4, 1998.

Milwaukee struggled to get anything going offensively all evening. They managed just eight shots in the entire contest and had just one on goal.

"We expected to be in the game all the time but there was just too many stoppages of play," Bennett said. "Unfortunately, it broke the whole flow of the game and we couldn't get anything going."

The physical game featured a total of 45 fouls, with 16 called on the Panthers.

Green Bay was credited with 18 shots, but the UWM defense allowed only a handful of quality opportunities in regulation. Milwaukee narrowly avoided falling behind 1-0 in the 84th minute courtesy of a team save.

Following a Green Bay corner kick, a flurry in front of the goal ensued. A UWGB player sent a shot to the far post that Fernstrum went after, but it got deflected back the other way where David Chin was waiting for it. He sent a shot at the open net, but senior Kyle Zenoni was there to clear it off the line and keep the game scoreless at the time.

The Panther defense did a good job clearing the Phoenix corner kicks as well, not allowing any shots at all on four of the five UWGB corners in the second half.

The only other dangerous chance that UWM defended came in the 69th minute, but Fernstrum made a sprawling save on a 15-yard shot from Tossaint Ricketts after a nice crossing pass.

"I didn't think they had any clear-cut opportunities," Bennett said. "UWGB is an explosive team, so you have to account for the quickness that they have. Unfortunately, we didn't get an opportunity to take advantage of the other way. If we could have been better on set pieces it would have helped the situation."

The first half went back and forth, with no flow offensively for either team. Green Bay did have the ball on their side of midfield more often, but were unable to get their chances on target once they created opportunities.

The Panthers offense managed just four shots in the first half but was unable to do much with its chances either. The closest opportunity came in the 13th minute when sophomore Andre Francois sent a header wide.

Fernstrum was credited for five saves in the game while his counterpart, Adam Stikl was forced to make just one save for the win in his first collegiate start.

The Panthers are scheduled to close out the regular season with a game against Marquette on Monday, Oct. 31.