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Women's Soccer

Panthers Drop 2-1 Decision At Michigan State

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. (Aug. 16, 2009) - Sophomore Sarah Hagen gave the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team a 1-0 lead just after halftime, but two late goals proved to be the difference as the Panthers dropped their exhibition season finale, 2-1, at Michigan State Sunday.

Milwaukee capped its exhibition season 0-1-1 after playing to a 1-1 draw against Illinois State Tuesday et Engelmann Field.

"I was very pleased with our top group in stretches but we need to be more consistent," UWM head coach Michael Moynihan said. "We had some great possession play but then need to be able to do more with our chances. We created good situations but then either the serve or the finish was lacking."

Neither team scored in the first half, but Hagen changed that off a pass from sophomore Laurel Ragalie. Ragalie got the ball off a throw-in and slotted a pass to Hagen. With the ball, Hagen one-touched the ball through the defense and created a 1v1 with the keeeper. She dribbled around the keeper and tucked the ball into the open net.

The score remained 1-0 until Laura Heyboer knotted the score in the 74th minute, beating freshman Gabby Guaiumi off a pass from Lauren Hill. It was Hill that tallied the game-winner, finding the back of the net with just 62 seconds remaining in regulation.

"They have a very dynamic team up front and gave us a great test to get ready for our season," Moynihan said. "Last year I thought they had the best forward tandem we faced all year and they've added even more firepower and depth in their attack. Still I thought we held up pretty well and I'd say we were better defending them than we were last year. Still plenty of room for improvement though."

The Spartans held a 12-9 advantage in shots and 6-2 edge in corner kicks.

"We wanted everyone to play and gain some experience," Moynihan said. "When looking at the season overall, we wanted to play people and get them experience. There is always a learning curve that will create opportunities for the other team and that's what happened today."

Junior Leslie Deebach got the start in goal for UWM and played the first 21:41. Freshman Jamie Forbes made one save in her first collegiate action, playing just over 40 minutes. Guaiumi made one save over the final 28 minutes.

Freshman Helen Steinhauser made the start at defender for Milwaukee and had a standout game, as did junior Sarah Talbert.

"Sarah (Talbert) did a very good job helping us possess the ball through the middle. She made herself available a lot and found some good passing lanes," Moynihan said. "Helen held up well in the back and her distributing was good. We didn't give up much when she was in there."

The Panthers kick off the 2009 regular season this week, playing at Northwestern Friday (Aug. 21). UWM and the Wildcats kick off at 7 p.m. in Evanston, Ill.

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