Nov. 4, 2010

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Sophomore Cody Banks tied the game in the 20th minute but it was not enough as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team dropped a 5-1 decision to Northern Illinois University Thursday night at Engelmann Field. The Huskies (9-6-2) took the lead with a goal before the half and then put the Panthers (6-9-2) away with three more late in the second to retain possession of the LeWang Trophy.

"We conceded four goals on set pieces, which was really disappointing because we knew that was one of NIU's strengths," UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. "We scouted them, we saw it, but we didn't deal with it well. I was really disappointed with the way we defended on set pieces. I thought in the context of the game, we played better, but the scoreboard shows they were the better team on the night."

After an early goal by Juan Hoyos, the Panthers evened the contest at 1-1 on a beautiful strike from Banks. Sophomore Andrew Wiedabach set him up with his team-leading fifth assist of the season and Banks did the rest, one-timing a 25-yard shot up and over the keeper's head to make it 1-1 at the 19:45 mark.

NIU took advantage of a great opportunity in the 34th minute, drawing a foul just outside of the 18-yard box. Engebreth Faerden sent the free kick to the far post for the 2-1 lead that held up into intermission.

It was a back-and-forth affair for the first 20 minutes of the second half when sophomore goalkeeper John Shakon made two impressive saves on back-to-back shots by Hoyos in the 54th minute. He first stopped a breakaway opportunity with his back leg and rushed back to make another stop at the post on a header to keep it 2-1 at the time.

In the 66th minute, freshman Kevin Ferron almost had the equalizer. On a run to the goal he had a chance for an attempt, but NIU keeper Jordan Godsey took the ball off his foot.

From there it was all Northern Illinois, scoring on a long free kick in the 71st minute and then on a short tap-in off a partially-saved shot in the 81st. An own goal in the 88th minute closed out the scoring.

For the game, UWM ended with the 13-to-12 advantage in shots, with NIU earning all three of the corner kicks in the match. UWM was also whistled for 15 of the 26 fouls. Wiedabach led the way with four shots, with Shakon making four saves. Godsey ended the night with seven saves of his own.

"We have to be switched on, be focused and be ready to work hard on Saturday (against Michigan State)," Whalley said. "The nice thing is, we have a chance to make it right real quickly. The reason why I scheduled these two games late in the year is because I wanted to let the guys know we have to play mistake-free at this time of the season. If you make mistakes in games you are going to get punished like this evening. We have to get back to the grindstone and get focused, be more switched on and more players have to play well than played well tonight."

The Panthers return to action for the final game of the regular season, taking on nationally-ranked Michigan State Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m. with Senior Day festivities on the schedule as well.