Sept. 1, 2010

Box Score |  Quotes

MILWAUKEE - Junior Ross Van Osdol broke a 1-1 tie with a late second-half goal and freshman Edison Crespo followed with two more scores to send the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Marquette University in the season opener for both teams Wednesday night. Van Osdol broke the deadlock with a 40-yard, 77th-minute strike before Crespo tallied in the 88th and 89th minutes. A late own goal provided the difference in front of a packed crowd of 2,089 at Valley Fields.

The Panthers (1-0-0) took control of the game in the second half after the Golden Eagles (0-1-0) tied the game just seconds before intermission. The offensive display - UWM scored four goals in a regular season game for the first time since September of 2006 - gave Chris Whalley a victory in his first game as head coach and gives the Panthers possession of the Milwaukee Cup for the first time since a 3-2 win during the 2006 campaign.

"Obviously it was really, really pleasing, but I felt we could win the game going in," Whalley said. "I thought, on the night, we were the better team and we have some really good players. We just have to work hard and buy into the system and believe in what we are doing. I tried to calm them down, tried to make sure they were level-headed going into the game and play into our philosophy and tactics. I think I used some of my experience from coaching in big games to try and do some little things before kickoff just to relax them and make sure that they didn't let the occasion become too big and play the game instead."

Van Osdol found himself alone with the ball after a clearance and let rip on goal from 40 yards out. His shot made it over the keeper and hit the cross bar, bouncing in, to turn the tide in Milwaukee's favor at the 76:54 mark.

Ten minutes later, with Marquette pressing, senior Greg Rosenthal cleared a through ball over the back line and found a streaking Crespo, who did the rest to tally his first collegiate goal at the 87:24 mark. He wasn't done there. With UWM in possession again, sophomore Andrew Wiedabach dumped the ball into the corner. Instead of trying to kill the game, Crespo took off towards the goal and struck again, sending the large UWM fan contingent into a frenzy and giving the Panthers a win in their season opener for the first time since 2003.

Tied, 1-1, well into the second half, both teams had chances but none could convert. Senior Pater Sanger ran down a long ball and sent a quality cross into the box in the 62nd minute, but sophomore Cody Banks sent the touch just high. It was Sanger again in the 72nd minute, finding freshman Kevin Ferron a cross in front, but again, the shot was just over the cross bar.

Marquette then had its chance to take control, but Matt Stummer saw his 15-yard blast hit off the cross bar and back into play less than two minutes before Van Osdol's goal.

Milwaukee took the first lead of the game on a goal in the 31st minute, with Wiedabach finding the back of the net on a combination of passes from Banks and sophomore Robert Jarosz.

Banks also had a chance to tally in the 12th minute, but his header on a touch pass from Wiedabach went just left. Marquette then made it a new game with that goal just 16 seconds before the halftime horn.

"We talked about having character, having unity and believing in ourselves and bouncing back," Whalley said. "Because it was; it was a dagger blow when they scored just before halftime. But, we honestly talked about our strengths and our ability to score goals and I told them that if we play the way we can play that we could win the game. And I was really pleased they proved me right."

Sophomore goalkeeper John Shakon earned the win, giving up the goal right before half by Chris Madsen in addition to the own goal. He made six saves in the game, including a spectacular diving attempt on a close-range shot by Amilcar Herrera in the 39th minute. As a team, UWM also outshot it's opponent, 17-to-12.

It's off to the east coast next for UWM, competing in the 21st Annual Nike Fall Soccer Classic at the University of New Hampshire. The first game will be Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against the host Wildcats.