DETROIT, Mich. – Demetri Pliakos scored the first goal and assisted a late insurance tally to send Detroit Mercy past the Milwaukee men's soccer team by a final score of 2-0 Saturday night at Titan Field.
The Panthers (6-5-1, 4-2-1 Horizon League) could never get the offense in sync against the Titans (4-4-4, 3-2-2 Horizon League), seeing their unbeaten streak on the season snapped at four (3-0-1) and also come to a close at seven (6-0-1) in the head-to-head series.
Neither offense had much to show for it in a scoreless first half, with the two teams combining for just eight shots prior to intermission (5-3 MKE edge), with only one apiece on goal.
The rain picked up heavily during the break, with Milwaukee getting the first quality look in the second half. It came in the 50
th minute, seeing
David Cox get a decent look from the top of the 18 following a strong buildup from a free kick near midfield.
Detroit Mercy finally broke the drought, with Pliakos in the right place at the right time to clean up a loose ball in a scrum in front. His third of the season made it 1-0 at the 62:15 mark.
With shots hard to come by, the offense pressed late and the Titans took advantage, using a fortunate bounce on a deflection off the last line of defense to make it 2-0, coming in the 85
th minute. MKE was unable to record a shot attempt over the final 10 minutes of the match.
The team went to the 40
th minute before creating its first shot on goal as well. Statistics were close to even on the night, however, with shots deadlocked at 7-to-7 on the night, seeing UDM hold the small 3-to-2 edge in shots on goal as well as the 6-to-2 lead in corner kicks. Cox and
Raul Medina were the only players to record multi-shot efforts, finishing with two each.
Nick Chiappa was credited with just one save, but it was a quality one – coming at the 19:59 mark when he went high to punch away a shot from distance.
Up next, the Panthers will have just one match on the calendar next week, hosting Northern Kentucky Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
