CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Milwaukee women's soccer team got a goal from Taylor Hattori and a shutout from Elaina LaMacchia in net to claim a 1-0 victory over No. 14 Xavier Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Panthers (19-1) tied the program record for victories in a season, knocking off the nationally-ranked Musketeers (16-3-1) with a strong defensive effort from the entire team. The victory also extended the current MKE winning streak to 14 games in a row.
 
"We knew it was going to be a big effort on the road," head coach Troy Fabiano said. "It's always exciting for the program to be advancing in the NCAAA Tournament. Xavier is a very good team and we capitalized on our opportunity."
 
The 1-0 decision gave Milwaukee its fourth victory over a nationally-ranked program all-time, the last coming against Marquette in 2017 (a 2-1 win over a #19 Golden Eagle squad).
 
"One of our strengths is defending and I thought we defended very well," Fabiano said. "Just very excited for the girls to grind it out, get a goal, compete at this level and move on."
 
Hattori found the back of the net in the 16^th minute and LaMacchia did the rest, recording five saves – including an incredible game-saver late – to record her ninth individual shutout of the fall, as well as the 15^th total clean sheet she has been a major part of this season.
 
"The fun part with her, as we have talked about, is she doesn't get the action maybe some others do, but obviously she showed the type of player she is," Fabiano said. "She has played in these type of games – I think we have a special goalkeeper in her and she showed that today."
 
LaMacchia started her day with a strong effort in the eighth minute, making a solid save to keep it 0-0. She also ran off her line to punch away a dangerous cross in the 31^st minute, one of a handful of times she took away chances from Xavier before they formed on the afternoon.
 
The Panthers took advantage of their only shot of the first half, with Hattori coming through with her second of the season on a great individual effort in front of goal. Kat Van Booven started the play, sending a ball down the sideline. Lesley Kiesling picked it up from there, taking a pair of touches before dropping it off in the middle of the field for Hattori.
 
She did the rest, beating a convergence of four Xavier defenders with a shot back across the goal to the far post, setting off the on-field celebration at the 15:11 mark.
 
From there it was all defense, punctuated by the play of the day in the 82^nd minute. Xavier sent service into the box, seeing the ball bounce right to an open player for a shot at the equalizer. LaMacchia needed a full stretch to her right to stop most of it, quickly scrambling from the ground to cover up the rebound.
 
The only other shot on-goal came late, with Kiesling nearly netting one of her own in the closing seconds after picking off the ball in back. Her attempt was nearly enough to beat the keeper, but did help run out the time on any potential final threat for Xavier on goal.
 
For the game, the Musketeers did earn advantages of 10-to-3 in shots, 5-to-2 in shots on goal, as well as 3-to-1 in corner kicks. Kiesling led the offense with two of the three attempts.
 
The win marks the fifth time the team has advanced to the second round in NCAA Tournament history, as well as the second consecutive (Elon last year). MKE also has a 3-0 win over Illinois State at home in 2011 in addition to advancing to the second round following PK shootouts in both 2006 (T, 0-0 vs. Michigan/advance 5-3) and 2005 (T, 0-0 vs. Purdue/advance 6-5).
 
Milwaukee plays again next week Friday, taking on Virginia Nov. 19, with a time not yet announced. The Cavaliers are one of the four No. 1 seeds in the event and posted a 6-0 win over High Point in the first round. They are now 17-2-2 on the season and were ranked #1 in the country prior to a loss last week in their league tournament.