Aug 25, 2013

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Junior Laurie Bell assisted the first goal and scored the rest as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team put on an impressive performance in handing the University of Wisconsin-Parkside a 3-1 defeat Sunday evening at Engelmann Field.

"We emphasize with the guys that every time we step on the field, we play to win," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "We did that tonight, so that was good. I thought our overall play was pretty good, we just need to be sharper and tidier in certain areas."

In the final tuneup of the preseason, the Panthers dominated the scoresheet against the Rangers, outshooting their opponents by an 18-to-3 count. Parkside actually held a 1-0 lead until the 35th minute before UWM equalized. From there, it was all Milwaukee.

"I think our possession was considerably better than Parkside," Kelderman said. "I still think we need to improve our play in the final third. We get a lot of shots, but we need to be more efficient in front of the goal."

Bell assisted junior Kyle Neumann at the 34:39 mark to get the squad on the scoreboard and then put his team ahead at the 49:38 mark off a 40-yard free kick from near the sideline that went in without a touch from a teammate. His goal from the top of the penalty area at the 60:14 mark closed out the scoring.

"Laurie was aggressive going forward and was involved with a lot of plays and creating a lot of things ... he had a pretty good performance tonight," Kelderman said. "I think it's fair to say he could have had five goals."

The Rangers were the team to score first, getting a goal from Jon Gourlay at the 13:38 mark on the only shot the team recorded in the first half.

"I thought we could have done much better on the first goal," Kelderman said. "We rebounded pretty well, it took us a little while, I think we were a little bit rattled from the goal, but we finished the night on a real good note."

It wasn't for lack of chances, as Milwaukee was denied just before Parkside scored. Senior Robbie Boyd took a nifty backpass from junior Rami Younes at the top of the box, but a quality save by Marcos Perez kept it at zeroes at the time.

Bell came oh-so-close to a huge night, putting a free kick off the cross bar in the 34th minute and another off the bar on a header in the 60th minute after a pair of impressive touches by senior Austin Toth and Boyd.

UWM held that 18-3 advantage in shots - including 6-to-1 in shots on target - as well as forcing seven of the eight corners in the match. Bell ended the night with a game-high nine shots and freshman goalkeeper Liam Anderson picked up the victory behind a stout Milwaukee defense.

The regular season is up next, with the Panthers hosting Marquette for the "Milwaukee Cup" in one of the biggest games of the season at Engelmann. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Friday and will follow the UWM women's game against Indiana.