Sept. 11, 2011

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Laurence Braude scored the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 96th minute to help Northeastern University escape with a 2-1 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium. The Panthers (3-2-0) held a 1-0 advantage until late in the second half when the Huskies (3-1-1) equalized. The winning PK was scored on the only shot attempt by either team in the overtime session.

"Obviously, it's extremely disappointing to lose in overtime, but to lose on a penalty kick is more difficult," UWM head coach Chris Whalley said. "But ultimately, that wasn't the reason we lost the game. It wasn't the referee. It was ultimately the fact that we didn't take our chances earlier on in the game. I don't think we played as well as we could play and we got away from playing our style of soccer and that was why we didn't win the game today."

Scoreless until after halftime, the Panthers found the back of the net for the 1-0 lead at the 57:48 mark. Senior Keegan Ziada took a corner kick that flew in front of the goal, resulting in a handball being called in the box on a Huskie defender.

Freshman Gerardo Saavedra took the penalty kick, converting to give UWM the lead and apparent momentum for his third goal of the season.

However, it was a day of frustration for the Milwaukee offense, unable to convert on a number of dangerous opportunities that could have put the game away early.

Senior Robert Refai had one of those in the opening minute. He blocked a kick by NU goalkeeper Oliver Blum just 24 seconds into the contest, sending a short shot from a tough angle just wide that would have been one of the quickest strikes to start a game in program history.

Refai had another chance about 10 minutes later, but Blum was up to the task and made an excellent save on the close-range volley. With about 15 minutes left before the half, junior Cody Banks sent a header off a long serve from sophomore James Ashcroft just wide. Then, in the 39th minute, sophomore Kevin Ferron's volley off a nice combination of passes from freshmen Kyle Neumann and Nick Langford went just over the cross bar as well.

"We missed some big chances today," Whalley said. "The guys know that and we will talk about that and address that. The game of soccer is about scoring goals. We have been doing that so far this season but today we didn't because we weren't ruthless enough. Last week we had 30 chances and scored four. Today, we had numerous chances and different players weren't able to take them and that's frustrating."

Junior goalkeeper John Shakon ended the match with five saves, making an impressive stop at the near post of a shot by Dante Marini in the 69th minute, only to see the ball ricochet right in front of the goal to Josh Semerene, who easily cleaned it up to tie the game at 1-1 at the time.

Ziada nearly gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the 64th minute, but his volley off a lead pass from senior Ross Van Osdol flew just wide as well.

The winner was set up on a through ball to NU's Josh Semerene. Both Semerene and the UWM defender got to the ball at the same time, but the foul was called near the top of the penalty area. Braude went to his right with the kick, with Shakon nearly getting a hand on it before it found the back of the net to end the match.

Milwaukee was outshot, 14-12, for the game despite an 8-3 edge at the halftime break. Northeastern put seven of its shots on goal compared to four for UWM and earned six of the 10 corner kicks in the contest. Blum ended with three saves for the win.

Up next, the Panthers hit the road for the first time this season, heading to Alabama for the UAB "Soccer for a Cure" Classic next weekend.