Oct. 23, 2010

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team dominated the stat sheet and the game on Saturday night, but Derek Huffman's goal in the 105th minute sent UIC to a 1-0 victory in overtime at Engelmann Field. The Panthers (5-7-2, 3-4-0 Horizon) outshot the Flames (5-9-0, 2-4-0 Horizon) by a count of 20-to-8 and had 14 of the 19 corner kicks in the contest, yet could not find the back of the net in the heartbreaking loss.

"It's really frustrating and I thought we were the better team," UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. "In the second half especially, I think we played some good soccer. But, at the end of the day, for all of these shots that we had, we didn't score a goal. We have to start scoring more goals, because that's what wins games."

One of the best opportunities in the extra session came just 2:25 in, created by freshman Robbie Boyd. He took a pass down the sideline and sped around his defender, sending a cross to the box that found sophomore Andrew Wiedabach all alone. After a quick settling touch, Wiedabach's ball to the open net was somehow blocked by the UIC back line.

Junior Ross Van Osdol had a chance in the 103rd minute on a header off a Boyd corner kick, but that went wide. About a minute later, former UWM forward Eric Frazier sent a pass to Joe Radice, who's touch pass found Huffman at the top of the penalty area. His finish to the far post at the 104:18 mark extended UIC's unbeaten streak in the series to nine (7-0-2).

"I thought we defended well for a hundred-some minutes, but on the last play, we didn't defend well enough," Whalley said. "To be fair, [Huffman] took it very well and it was a great finish. But, if you close the kid down, he doesn't get that shot off. The difference today was their striker had a bit of quality and took his chance when it came along. Our strikers and attacking players missed too many chances. That's why they won the game today. You can't blame it on the defense. We have to take one of our 20 shots and score."

After a first half that contained six combined shots, Milwaukee turned up the heat and dominated the second half. It outshot UIC, 12-to-2, in the period and barely let the ball get out of its side of midfield.

In the 79th minute, freshman Edison Crespo had an opportunity off a headed flick from Wiedabach, but could not get the shot off clean in traffic. In the 75th, senior Greg Rosenthal's header off a Van Osdol free kick went wide right. Steve Purdy, who made seven saves in the win, also made nice stops on freshman Riley Weiner's header in the 65th minute and on Wiedabach's solid header in the 63rd.

Sophomore goalkeeper John Shakon needed to make just one save in regulation, with UWM's defense playing solid all night. Van Osdol ended up leading the way with a game-high five shots, with Wiedabach adding four.

"We have to bounce back and make sure on Wednesday that we play like we did in the second half and overtime, but, ultimately, take our chances, which we have been doing," Whalley said. "We can't get too despondent; we still have five wins and are creating a lot of chances and dominating teams that were dominating us last year. We have to hold our heads up high. The rest of the season and the conference tournament, we have to take those chances."

Milwaukee returns to action with a midweek in-state rivalry match-up, heading to Madison Wednesday to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, starting at 7 p.m.