Box Score |  Notes

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Sept. 21, 2008) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team played to a 2-2 draw with Brown University Sunday afternoon on the final day of the Minnesota Gold Classic.

The Panthers (7-1-2) finished the weekend with a 1-0-1 mark, following a 2-0 win over Boston University Friday. The Bears (2-2-2) were ranked as high as 21st in the Soccer America national poll and receiving votes in the NSCAA poll alongside UWM.

"Brown has done this to a number of teams already this season," Milwaukee head coach Michael Moynihan said. "They beat No. 11 and tied No. 1 by just absorbing the other teams. Two goals should have been enough for us to win the game. Four or five goals is not even a high percentage with the opportunities we had. Kane made a great save for us in overtime and our energy and determination was fantastic up to the end."

Milwaukee controlled possession throughout the match, heightening its attack through the two overtime periods. The goalkeepers proved to make the difference in the overtime periods, with senior Erin Kane making a key save in the 103rd minute. Brenna Hogue kept UWM at bay with two diving saves to keep Brown in the game.

For the game, the Panthers held dominating advantages of 27-15 in shots and 14-4 in corner kicks, but could not get the third goal they searched for. Kane finished with four saves, while Hogue notched five in the game.

"We were disappointed to be tied at halftime, but I was happy we came back and played very dominant soccer," Moynihan said. "Brown defends pretty well, they are a difficult team to score on. We had the possession and the momentum, but the final pass or serve wasn't where we needed them to be. Their goalkeeper made some nice saves, `Apple' (Hagen) hit the cross bar and we had rebound chances. We just need to finish better."

Despite the Panthers controlling possession handily throughout the opening frame, the two teams still headed into halftime tied at one. The Bears got on the board first on a corner kick Milwaukee just could not clear. After a number of rebound attempts, Melissa Kim finally snuck her header past senior Erin Kane for a 1-0 lead at the 15:32 mark of the first half.

UWM retaliated with a corner kick of its own, in a more conventional manner. Sperl sent one of the team's six corners of the half to the near post where senior Sarah Teegarden headed the ball into the net in the 29th minute.

Milwaukee outshot Brown, 11-3, but neither team relented much near the goal. The majority of the Panthers' opportunities came outside the penalty area, while multiple Bear shots came on their scoring corner kick.

"The first goal came very much against the run of play," Moynihan said. "We were dominating the possession in the game and they were able to take advantage of a defensive miscue," Moynihan said. "But, I was happy with our response, where we tied it and went ahead. I thought we had the game in hand. We generated enough opportunities to put the game away."

In the second half, junior Kate Megna got the Panthers on the board first with a bounding ball off a cleared corner kick in the 54th minute. Sperl sent a corner in and Brown managed to clear the ball out of immediate danger. Fortunately, Megna was there to send a rebound into the box and over Hogue's outstretched arms.

Lindsay Cunningham beat Kane to a serve into the box and headed the equalizer into the net less than 10 minutes later. Bridget Ballard sent the cross to the middle of the box and Kane came off her line to punch the ball away. Cunningham was able to get her head on the ball and knot the game at 2-2.

Not every scoring opportunity was snuffed out by the two keepers. Brown received assistance from the goal itself in the 78th minute when freshman Sarah Hagen rocketed a shot off the cross bar.

UWM will await the end of the Minnesota Gold Classic to find out their place and all-tournament team representatives. Boston University (0-1-0 in the tourney) was taking on the host Gophers (1-0-0) in the match immediately following Milwaukee's match.

The Panthers will shift focus closing out the non-league portion of their schedule and opening the league slate with a pair of games this week. They host Northwestern Wednesday and Green Bay Friday.