MILWAUKEE – Up 1-0 after a dominant first half, the Milwaukee women's soccer team put the game away with two more second-half goals in recording a 3-0 shutout of IUPUI Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (8-1) earned a bit of revenge against the Jaguars (5-2-2) today in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals, coming against the team that handed them their lone blemish during the regular season (a 1-0 loss March 3).
 
"I think the team was aware of their performance the last time we were on the field with IUPUI and knew what was at stake today," head coach Troy Fabiano said. "And, obviously, that was motivation to have a better showing. We really stressed 'let's just be about ourselves' and control what we can control. We got that first goal, but I think we had some opportunities earlier. I felt like we were on the front foot the entire time and did a good job."
 
Natalie Auble got MKE on the board in the first half, sending a right-footed blast inside of the left post at the 16:53 mark to open the scoring. The goal, Auble's fifth of the season, was set up on a pass from Maggy Henschler following a failed clearance off an MKE corner kick.
 
"I am proud of the girls," Fabiano said. "It's been a unique situation this spring, so to get to the finals is a great thing for us. This group is not satisfied. They wanted to score goals today and we had three today."
 
Milwaukee had the much better of play over the opening 45 minutes, but had to wait until the 69^th minute to add an insurance tally. It came on a patented corner kick, with Rachel Phillpotts heading in her fourth goal of the season on a well-placed corner from Gaby Schwartz at the 68:33 mark. For Schwartz, it upped her league-leading assist total to eight on the spring.
 
It was Schwartz that played a key role early in the game as well, clearing a potential Jaguar goal off the line in the 12^th minute after the ball had gotten by the final line of defense when the match was still 0-0.
 
The Panthers spent much of the day with the better of play, finishing the afternoon with a 19-to-5 advantage in shots, including 12-to-2 in shots on goal. The team closed out the scoring in the 81^st minute, with Jelena Sever sending a left-footed rocket into the back of the net for her league-leading sixth of the season. Haley Johnson and Julia Barajas were credited with assists on the play.
 
In net, Elaina LaMacchia extended her scoreless streak to 367:47 with her fourth solo clean sheet of the campaign, credited with one save. She lowered her goals-against average to 0.23, a number that ranks tops in the conference and in the Top 5 in the NCAA.
 
Auble paced the offense with four shots, with Phillpotts and Sever both getting credited with three.
 
Up next, Milwaukee will play in its fifth consecutive Horizon League Tournament Championship, hitting the road to play at top-seeded Northern Kentucky Saturday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and will kick off at 12 p.m. CST, with the Panthers in search of a third-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament.