CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Milwaukee women's soccer team went toe-to-toe with the No. 2 team in the country Thursday evening, falling to Virginia by a final score of 2-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Klöckner Stadium.
 
The Panthers (19-2) held strong to the end, unable to convert a handful of opportunities to draw level before the Cavaliers (18-2-2) put the game away with an insurance goal in the 83^rd minute.
 
"I thought we represented ourselves extremely well against the No. 2 team in the country," head coach Troy Fabiano said. "No matter what, at this point of the season, it hurts."
 
The loss brings an end to a record-setting campaign for Milwaukee, tying the school record with 19 victories, setting a new standard with 14 straight wins, while also running the table as the most potent offense and defense in the nation all season long.
 
"I am just really proud of the team – think about it," Fabiano said. "You have expectations when you start the season. We have our goals; our goals have never changed: competing in the Horizon League, getting into the NCAA Tournament, and then seeing how far we can get. And we also understand once you get in the NCAA Tournament, it's luck of the draw. So, for the last four years, we have hit Santa Clara, Wisconsin, Florida State, and now Virginia."
 
MKE enjoyed a phenomenal campaign, breaking school records and establishing new standards with its 206 points (old mark of 200 was set in 2008), and assists with 80 (70/2008), while finishing second with its 63 goals (65/2008) and 0.37 goals-against average (0.29/2017). All of those numbers currently rank first or second in the nation at the NCAA Division I level.
 
The defense put up another strong effort early on, with Elaina LaMacchia needing to make just one save through the first eight Virginia shot attempts. Unfortunately, the ninth found the back of the net, with Diana Ordonez sneaking in a header just under the crossbar for her 17^th of the season in the 26^th minute.
 
"For the opening 15 minutes, we actually came out and kept the ball pretty good and had a couple of good sequences," Fabiano said. "And then, not by default, we just absorbed a little bit too much pressure. One of the things we spoke about as a team, is when you are playing an opponent like Virginia, we just can't make the mistakes that we did. Unfortunately, we made two mistakes that cost us two goals."
 
Things stayed that way until deep into regulation. The Panthers had a couple of looks at an equalizer, but were turned away each time. First was a chance by Rachel Phillpotts in the 62^nd minute. The second came about 10 minutes later, with Haley Steel seeing her shot to the bottom right turned away by the UVA keeper.
 
The Cavaliers then got the insurance goal they were looking for, with Ordonez netting her 18^th at the 82:29 mark.
 
The five-year record of the graduating seniors (including a fifth-year due to COVID) concluded at a gaudy 77-8-7 overall (.875 winning percentage), including a stellar 42-1-3 (.946) in conference play and four consecutive NCAA-Tournament berths. For perspective, four of their eight overall losses in their span on campus have come in season-ending defeats in the NCAA Tournament.
 
"But overall, just extremely proud of the group, especially the seniors," Fabiano said. "It's really our first recruiting group and I told the three that are true seniors [Rachel Phillpotts, Gaby Schwartz, Mackenzie Schill] "Look where you put us – would you have taken this when we first recruited you?" … and just how proud I was of them."