ROCHESTER, Mich. – Cleveland State scored a pair of second-half goals to hand the Milwaukee men's soccer team a tough 2-1 loss on a rainy Thursday night at Oakland Soccer Park in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament.
"Proud of the guys for a very good season," head coach
Kris Kelderman said. "Finishing third with 11 teams in a league with a lot of parity … we head home disappointed but proud of our efforts this season. I feel really bad for the guys. They stuck to the game plan from minute one to the 90
th minute. They did everything they could and gave it our best."
The Panthers (9-8-1) had gone ahead on a goal from
Paolo Gratton in the first half, only to see the Vikings (10-8) net a pair of impressive goals after the break to prevail and punch their ticket to the Horizon League Tournament Championship Saturday.
The loss snaps Milwaukee's six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) in league postseason play and concludes the 2021 campaign at 9-8-1.
"The two goals that Cleveland State scored were off restarts," Kelderman said. "The second goal was a lifetime shot from the young man who hit it – not a whole lot you can do about that. We got beat by two very nice goals out there. The good thing is, we created some chances and gave ourselves an opportunity. We were strong defensively and created enough chances offensively."
Milwaukee dominated the opening 10 minutes of possession and nearly struck first in the 18
th minute when
Josh Kidder send a left-foot attempt off the post.
It was Kidder again playing a role in the score, sending service into the box after
Phillip Riewerts had helped the team flip the field. Kidder's ball skimmed off the head of a defender but it never came off target, with Gratton waiting to volley it back to the far post for his seventh of the season and a 1-0 lead at the 28:40 mark.
Gijs Van Schouten did a great job in net in the opening period, making a solid diving save in the 17
th minute and a nifty kick-save off a corner kick in the 32
nd minute.
The rain continued to pick up all evening and CSU found its way back into the match at the 49:00 mark, somehow sending a free kick pinballing through the wall for the equalizer. They then made it 2-1 in the 57
th minute, seeing Andrew Nicholas blast a full volley off a corner kick top shelf for the eventual game-winner.
Milwaukee kept up the pressure, nearly drawing back even in the 65
th on a free kick from
Logan Farrington, but his strike went clanging off the crossbar and back into play.
There were more chances, but no second goal. Gratton had a shot from a Kidder pass saved in the 77
th, MKE had a decent look at a header go wide in the 80
th and sent a free kick high from just outside of the 18 a few minutes later. They battled to the final horn, but even a last-second corner kick attempt was cleared by the Viking defense.
Van Schouten finished with four saves, which included a quality stop of a blast from the top of the 18 in the 76th minute to keep it at 2-1.
Shots finished 14-to-11 in MKE's favor, but Cleveland State did earn the 6-3 edge in shots on goal and 6-5 advantage in corner kicks. Farrington, Kidder and
Raul Medina paced the offense with three shots apiece.
That concludes the season and also brings the end of the careers of the following seniors:
Shawn Azcueta,
Andreas Soerensen,
Paolo Gratton, and
Jake Kelderman, with Kelderman wrapping up his final season playing for his father as a Panther
.
"I would like to congratulate the four seniors on an incredible career with our Panther program," Kelderman said. "Four guys that are class players, class people, class students. Nothing more I could ask for from the group of seniors. Unfortunately, they are leaving, but they are leaving the program in a better spot than when they arrived."
