Box Score |  Notes

MADISON, Wis. (Sept. 7, 2007) - Farrell McClernon scored in the 10th minute and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team was unable to recover in falling to Boston University, 1-0, Friday afternoon in the first game of the Wisconsin Soccer Classic in Madison.

Both teams moved to 2-1 on the season.

"Soccer can be a cruel game," head coach Michael Moynihan said. "The stronger team doesn't always win. After a pretty even first half we completely dominated the second half. I'm still trying to figure out how we missed a few of the situations we created. The spirit was fantastic. Mature teams don't put themselves in the situation we got ourselves into though. Mature teams impose themselves from the beginning. I think we learned something today and I doubt you'll see us make the same mistake again.

"This is a difficult loss to stomach. It's unfortunate and a missed opportunity for our team, but if we learn from it, we have much to look forward to."

Milwaukee was the aggressor much of the game, but was unable to find the back of the net. The Terriers, meanwhile, took advantage of one of its few opportunities and broke through for the game's only score at 9:09 in the first half.

McClernon received a cross in the box and had an initial shot blocked, before depositing the rebound past UWM keeper Erin Kane.

The Panthers were dangerous early with numerous threats forward, but Boston took momentum of the game after scoring. As the half dwindled, Milwaukee fought forward and had a number of prolonged attacks that did not result in goals.

At halftime, the stats were event, with both teams taking three shots and UWM forcing two more corner kicks (3-1).

"We had a great chance to open the game in a ideal fashion with a sitter of a chance in the opening minutes," Moynihan said. "Sarah Talbert played a great ball through to Erin Kreuser and Erin did well to beat her defender and send in a nice short cross. Unfortunately there was a little indecision as two players were poised to finish and neither took the initiative. We squandered that chance and that kind of summed up our first half performance. We lacked energy and initiative. We proceeded to give up a soft goal on a restart and then ended up chasing a game we should have controlled."

Milwaukee came out of the break with a sense of urgency and thoroughly controlled the time of possession throughout the frame. The offensive pressure led to a few promising threats, including a shot by senior Pam Shipway that rolled just outside the far post.

Sophomore Erin Kreuser made a run into the box and found freshman Nicole Sperl for a shot that was blocked. Her rebound came to Shipway, who slid the ball past the post.

Four minutes later, combination passing resulted in a solid shot from eight yards out by freshman Nicole Hirsch. Unfortunately, the shot was easily saved by BU goalkeeper Janie Reilly.

On paper, it was definitely a tale of two halves, as UWM held a 9-2 shot advantage and 6-1 edge in corners for the half. That led to a final tally of 12 shots and nine corners for Milwaukee and five shots and two corners for Boston.

"In the second half I was very proud of our performance," Moynihan said. "Our injuries are mounting up and we've been through a rough week as a team. We regrouped and really showed some character and our depth. We had a lot of new faces in key roles and they did an outstanding job as we took command and dominated the second 45 minutes. We had them on the ropes and should have finished on several occasions."

Reilly picked up her second shutout of the season with two saves, while Kane stopped one of the two Terrier shots on frame.

The Panthers wrap up their weekend at the Wisconsin Soccer Classic in Madison Sunday against UC Santa Barbara. Kick off is at 11 a.m.