Oct. 8, 2011

Box Score

DETROIT, Mich. - Senior Robert Refai and sophomore Robbie Boyd each scored first-half goals to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team to a 2-2 draw against the University of Detroit Saturday afternoon at Titan Field.

"I feel like we played some good soccer today," UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. "We created some good chances and took two of them in the first half. Unfortunately, we didn't capitalize on any of our chances in the second half or overtime."

The Panthers (5-6-1, 2-1-1 Horizon) raced out to a 2-0 lead before the Titans (4-6-1, 0-2-1 Horizon) would find the back of the net. A late goal helped Detroit earn the draw, finding the equalizer in the 80th minute.

Freshman Nick Langford nearly won it in dramatic fashion for Milwaukee, only to see his last-chance shot attempt miss just wide to the right of the goal with only two seconds left in regulation.

"Credit to Detroit," Whalley said. "They came back and scored two goals and we didn't close the game out. Being up 2-nil at halftime you should do that. A tie on the road in conference is not the end of the world. A point is a point and we'd rather take that than none."

The Panthers dominated the overtime sessions, taking four of the five shots and all three of the corner kicks that the match featured, but were unable to find the winner.

Milwaukee took good advantage of its opportunities in the first half, finding the back of the net in the 18th and 35th minutes to take a convincing 2-0 lead at intermission.

Junior Jamie Bladen assisted the opening goal, finding Refai for his sixth of the season at the 17:43 mark. Refai's shot from 25 yards out made it 1-0 early.

UWM then doubled its advantage on Boyd's first goal of the year at the 34:28 mark. He blasted a chance from the right side of the field that the goalkeeper got a hand on, but could not keep from crossing the goal line. Langford helped out with the assist on the goal.

Detroit would break up the shutout in the 54th minute when Nate Robinson converted a penalty kick. The Titans would then send the game to overtime when Adam Bedell scored on a header in the 80th minute.

Milwaukee pushed forward and was able to record three of the final four shots in the match, but ended up heading to overtime for the fourth time this season.

"That [the penalty kick] kind of changed the momentum of the game and they went on the offensive," Whalley said. "After they scored the second goal, I felt like we looked like the team that was going to win the game. We had some chances to score in overtime as well and didn't take them. But we showed some character after giving up the two-goal lead. We bounced back and took the game to them."

UWM ended with an 18-to-16 advantage in shots on the day, including 9-to-6 in shots on goal. It also ended with a substantial advantage in corner kicks at 15-to-2 and was whistled for 19 of the 21 fouls in the game. The 15 corner kicks actually marked the highest number for the Panthers since earning 19 against UIC in October of 2003.

Langford led the team with five shots on the day. Freshmen Laurie Bell and Kyle Neumann each had three. Freshman goalkeeper Josh Rohde made four saves, with his counterpart, UDM's Anthony Shepherd making seven.

Next up, the Panthers return home and remain in Horizon League play, welcoming Wright State to Engelmann Stadium Saturday for a 7 p.m. match under the lights.