Sept. 9, 2011

Box Score | Match Report

MILWAUKEE - Seniors Robert Refai and Keegan Ziada accounted for a pair of first-half goals as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team earned a 2-1 victory over Marquette University Friday night at Engelmann Stadium. The Panthers (3-1-0) held a 2-0 lead before the Golden Eagles (1-3-0) scored late in the second half, but held on from there to retain possession of the Milwaukee Cup for another season.

"I think it was a battle," UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. "I think we probably had the better of the first half going in at 2-0. I thought we were the better side in the first half but Marquette played some good soccer in the second half and put us under pressure. They scored a good goal - John made a great save but the kid followed it nicely and it made the final 15 minutes kind of nervous for us."

One of the big keys to the game was again the play of the defense, with junior John Shakon leading the charge with seven saves. With the game hanging in the balance, Shakon stopped a strong free kick off the leg of Calum Mallace and also made a brilliant stop on a close-range attempt by Andy Huftalin with just 77 seconds left in regulation.

Marquette did find the back of the net at the 69:15 mark to break up the shutout, with Shakon making a one-handed save off a header that bounced back out to Huftalin for the goal. The score snapped his shutout streak at 261:28.

"John has been very good for the last three games," Whalley said. "He kept them at bay tonight and, like you said, he made a great save on the goal but we couldn't pick the bits up and they took it. He really led us well back there and calmed us down when we needed it."

Milwaukee had a few early chances but was not able to convert until the 22:20 mark. Freshman Alex Megna went up strong for a loose ball and sent it forward. Freshman Laurie Bell then volleyed it forward to a streaking Refai who calmly finished for his third goal of the season.

"It was one of those balls that was there to be won and Robby took the goal very, very well," Whalley said. "He's in good form right now, I think that's three [goals] in three for him. So, that was great that he took that chance."

The Panther offense kept up the pressure, making it 2-0 on Ziada's breakaway goal at the 35:50 mark. He was set up perfectly by freshman Nick Langford, who had subbed into the game about 20 minutes before setting up the eventual game-winner.

"It was nice," Ziada said. "I thought Nick Langford did a really good job holding off the center defender, created himself some space. And, I saw a little hole, he played a really good ball through - I saw the near post open and was fortunate to put it in with my left foot. Obviously, being new here, it doesn't take long to buy in to the competitiveness of Marquette and UWM. And, it was nice to score a goal in this big game."

For the game, UWM recorded 16 of the 33 shots and earned three of the seven corner kicks. Freshman Gerardo Saavedra led the way with four shots, tying for game-high honors with MU's C. Nortey. David Check did make three saves in defeat.

The Panthers are now 3-1-0 after four games, their best start to a season since a similar 3-1-0 mark in 2003. The three consecutive wins also marks the first winning streak of that length since the 2006 campaign.

"It's a decent start, but the season is not four games, hopefully it's a 20-something game season," Whalley said. "We started well, we're gelling pretty well, but we just have to continue to work hard. We're scoring goals and not conceding too many ... so if we keep scoring goals at that ratio we're going to have a decent year."

Milwaukee will look to close out the weekend with another chance at a victory, taking on Northeastern Sunday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at Engelmann Stadium.