Sept. 17, 2010

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - The University of Dayton scored a goal in each half to hand the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team a 2-0 defeat in game one of the Wisconsin Soccer Classic Friday afternoon at McClimon Soccer Complex. The Panthers (1-3-1) ousthot the Flyers (2-2-0) and had the majority of possession on the day, but the result was the same when UWM could put away its chances in the contest.

On the other hand, Dayton did, taking advantage of two Milwaukee miscues on defense in earning the shutout. Charles Leonhard opened the scoring in the 20th minute and a second goal in the 51st closed out the scoring despite numerous quality chances for the Panthers.

"Overall, I thought there was a lot of good play," UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. "We passed the soccer ball well, our commitment was good and we created a lot of chances. We need to start taking them again and score goals like we have been doing. We can score goals, but we are just struggling to do it right now. It's black and white - when you get chances like we had today you have to take them. Goals change games. We have to start finishing our chances and being more ruthless. We played good soccer today against a team that won its conference last year even though the result didn't show it. We have to start scoring more goals and making less mistakes than the other team."

The Panthers were able to put just five of their 15 shots in the match on goal, making much less work for UD's Tyler Picard to earn his clean sheet.

Down 1-0 early in the second half, UWM conceded a corner kick to the Flyers following a team save by sophomore Robert Jarosz, who headed the ball from an open net. Junior keeper Bryce Boyd caught the corner, but lost it when he hit the ground. An unlucky break for Milwaukee, as the ball went right to a wide-open Jordan Beckett, who easily sent in the two-yard tap-in at the 50:35 mark.

The Flyers had originally got on the board in the first half following a UWM turnover on the back line.

"We made some poor defensive mistakes and they capitalized on it," Whalley said. "On the other hand, their goalkeeper fumbled a couple of tough shots and we didn't take advantage. We can point fingers at our errors, but have to realize that we need to take advantage of the chances we have."

The Panthers had a good chance to tie it early on a nice build-up. Sophomore Ryan Whitehead served it into the penalty area where freshman Robbie Boyd set up sophomore Cody Banks on the right flank. Picard made a great save at the near post to keep it 1-0 at the time.

Picard was at his best in the 59th minute, somehow stopping freshman James Ashcroft's 25-yard blast despite the ball getting redirected on the way to the goal. Headers by junior Tony Maxey in the 70th minute and senior Greg Rosenthal in the 84th also seemed destined for the back of the net, with each going just wide.

For the game, Milwaukee held a 15-to-12 advantage in shots and seven-to-three edge in corner kicks, while UD was whistled for 15 of the 21 fouls. Sophomore Andrew Wiedabach led the UWM offense with a game-high five shots, including three on goal. Boyd was credited with four saves in defeat.

The Panthers will be back in Madison Sunday, taking on San Diego State at noon.