MILWAUKEE – On a day when the Milwaukee women's soccer program honored a group of seven with "Senior Day" celebrations, two student-athletes who have been a part of the program the longest played a role in helping the team claim an important 1-0 victory over Oakland Saturday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
"It was a great game," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "Oakland is a terrific team and it was a pretty even game. I think we had more chances as a whole, but they had some chances as well and it could have gone either way."
 
The Panthers (9-3-3, 6-1-2 Horizon League) got a goal from Haley Johnson, which was set up by a takeaway and assist by Natalie Auble to hold off the Golden Grizzlies (7-3-7, 4-2-3 Horizon League) and keep momentum on their side in the chase for the 2022 Horizon League regular-season title.
 
"What an incredible goal that Haley scored," Boyd said. "That was an unbelievable goal and it's why Haley has been such a special player for us this year. She's done that pretty regularly."
 
Johnson and Auble – who have both been with the program since the 2018 season – each played a role for the only goal of the game at the 50:38 mark.
 
It was actually Auble on the prior possession, forcing a very tough save on a shot from the wing at the 50:21 mark. Auble then quickly regained possession from OU and passed to Kayla Rollins at the top of the 18. Rollins' square-ball found Johnson in stride, sending the eventual game-winner bending to the upper-90 for her fifth goal of the season at the 50:38 mark.
 
Kendall Edwards picked up her fourth shutout of the season, finishing with four saves, none bigger than on the ensuing Oakland possession following the goal. She had to give the attempt a full-out dive, getting just enough of the save to push it off the post and back into play to get cleared out of danger.
 
"I thought that was going in to be honest," Boyd said. "She did well, it hit the post and came back out. Both Liz (Elizabeth Reece) and Lexi (Lexi Blaser) were there to clear it which is great – they did what they were supposed to do."
 
The defensive battle between the top two teams in the league lived up to the billing, with quality chances few and far between all day.
 
Stephanie Recinos came on in the second half and nearly found another goal, forcing a pair of saves including on a corner kick in the 74^th minute.
 
The game reached intermission 0-0, with the best looks both coming from the MKE offense. Senya Meurer sent one inches high from distance in the 41^st minute after passes from Clara Broecker and Trudy Quidzinski and Rollins sent a header just wide off endline service from Auble in the 23^rd minute.
 
For the game, Milwaukee ended the afternoon with a 16-13 advantage in shots and 9-4 tally in shots on goal, while each team recorded four corner kicks. Auble and Lainey Higgins each had a team-high three shots.
 
The full group of participants in "Senior Day" festivities included #9 Trudy Quidzinski, #16 Natalie Auble, #23 Caitlynn Owens, #24 Haley Johnson, #27 Lexi Blaser, #29 Brooke Parnello, and #30 Sydney Downs.
 
"We celebrated multiple seniors," Boyd said. "And it's not just today, but we are celebrating their careers here and all they have meant to our program and that is really what was special. So it's really nice to get a win in that situation."
 
Up next will be the final game of the regular season Wednesday at Green Bay. Milwaukee can clinch the title with a victory against the Phoenix – set for a 6 p.m. start.