MILWAUKEE – Logan Farrington scored the game-winner with just 24 seconds left in regulation to hand the Milwaukee men's soccer team a thrilling 2-1 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
"I give the guys a lot of credit, going down a goal, we stayed the course," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "It's easy to start panicking a little bit, but I don't think we did that. I thought as the game went on, we were the aggressor and created more chances. It was just a matter of somebody stepping up and making a play and finally we got two guys to do that late in the game."
 
The Panthers (8-7-1, 6-3-1 Horizon League) scored twice against the Mastodons (5-9-2, 3-6-1 Horizon League) over the final eight minutes of the contest to turn what would have been a tough loss in the regular-season finale into an impressive victory.
 
"I thought as soon as we got the first goal – because we had momentum – now you have that boost of confidence with the goal and just kept going," Kelderman said. "The home game [for the postseason] is huge. With a group of 11 with a lot of parity in our conference, to finish in the Top 3 is nothing to sneeze at for sure. It's exciting times."
 
Farrington played a role in both goals, setting up Paolo Gratton with the equalizer on a well-placed free kick in the 82^nd minute. Gratton got on the end of the kick at the far post, slotting in his fifth of the season to make it 1-1.
 
With time wining down the MKE offense gave it a go, starting near midfield on a ball won by Gabe Anguil. Anguil played off to Abdu Regassa down the right side, sending serve to the goal front where Farrington was able to redirect with a header for his eighth of the season at the 89:36 mark.
 
The victory helps Milwaukee finish the regular season at 6-3-1 in league play, finishing as the third seed and will host a first round game Sunday.
 
Milwaukee fell behind a goal again, with the Mastodons scoring on a quality header off a corner in the 20^th minute. The MKE offense was a touch off in the first, grinding out a 5-3 shots advantage over the first 45 minutes, yet with just a Gratton header off a corner resulting as the only shot on target.
 
The second half created more opportunities, with one in the 63^rd that nearly tied it. Created by Farrington and David Cox on a counter-attack, Adi Vaknin had a decent look from the top of the box with the PFW goalie charging, only to send it a few feet over the bar.
 
Anguil also had a good look after carrying solo from midfield into the box, dribbling through and around the defense, but had his solid attempt was pushed away by a nice save in the 82^nd minute.
 
For the game, the Panthers earned advantages of 15-to-11 in shots (6-6 in SOG) as well as 5-to-3 in corner kicks and 53 percent of possession. Josh Kidder and Farrington paced the offense with three shots each, with Farrington's goal and assist in 66 minutes off the bench extending his team-leading totals to 22 points, eight goals, and six assists.
 
In goal, Gijs Van Schouten was credited with five saves in picking up the victory, including a brilliant one-handed punch of a volleyed blast in the 77th minute.
 
Up next, the Panthers will open Horizon League Tournament play with a home game Sunday, set to welcome Robert Morris to Engelmann Stadium for a 1 p.m. start.