EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Milwaukee women's soccer team put quite a scare into nationally-ranked Michigan State before suffering a 3-2 defeat in overtime Friday night at Demartin Field in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
"We played a really good opponent, and we played them well," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "To come here and play a Top-15 opponent – they have been tremendous – and to play them the way that we did where I think everybody in the stadium knew it was an incredibly close game. And that's really what we are trying to do. When we play games, we play to win. When we showed up here, we showed up with the intent of winning the game."
 
The Panthers (12-4-3) scored first on a goal by Natalie Auble and held the lead over the Spartans (17-2-3) into the second half. They then forced overtime in dramatic fashion, getting a goal from Kayla Rollins with just 20 seconds left in regulation before falling in the extra sessions.
 
"We played with that focus the entire time and I think that was evident," Boyd said. "I thought we did well and I am really proud of the team. It's one of the most satisfying seasons that I have had in terms of seeing incredible growth from a team from the beginning to the end. What a great group we have and we want to build upon that."
 
Michigan State came in ranked No. 6 in the national poll and went undefeated as Big Ten regular-season champs at 9-0-1 as well as unbeaten at home this fall at 9-0-2. Hosting an NCAA Tournament game for the first time ever, Milwaukee found a way to quickly quiet the capacity crowd of over 2,500 fans.
 
"I thought it was a hell of a game," Boyd said. "Michigan State is very, very good. I thought we matched them and we held on at times, but were exceptionally dangerous. It became the game that we thought we would make it into, which was going to be a really close match all the way through. Our focus was finding a way to get this win and felt it was very possible the entire time. So, credit to them, they found a way in that second overtime and good luck to them going forward. But I couldn't be more proud of our team."
 
Following heavy MSU pressure from the start, the first offensive charge for the MKE offense turned into a goal. Lainey Higgins found Auble with a pretty pass that threaded through the backline of the defense and she did the rest, making a move to beat the Big Ten goalkeeper of the year before finishing left-footed for her fifth of the season. The goal came just 5:59 into the contest and quickly quieted the huge crowd.
 
The team fended off plenty of MSU offense the remainder of the period, using a bend-but-don't-break method to get to halftime despite getting outshot 16-2 in the first half. Milwaukee's two chances before intermission came on the goal and a 25^th-minute free kick from just outside the 18, hit into wall by Senya Meurer.
 
It was a career-best night in goal by Kendall Edwards who finished with 12 saves overall, topping her prior high of five set against Detroit Mercy earlier this fall. Seven of those came in the first half.
 
The Spartans finally broke through early in the second half, getting back to 1-1 in the 56^th minute before jumping ahead, 2-1, in the 77^th.
 
The deficit didn't phase the Panthers, who kept pushing for OT the entire 90 minutes. It paid off in the end … with 23 seconds left on the clock, a handball was called on MSU well outside of goal. Higgins took the free kick, sending into the front of goal. Rollins jumped and turned all the way around on the shot attempt, sending the ball arching to the far post, where it bounced and snuck in to level the match in dramatic fashion.
 
Michigan State had the better of it in the 20 minutes of overtime, coming through with the eventual winner in the 105^th minute.
 
The 2022 season concludes with a 12-4-3 overall record, back-to-back Horizon League regular-season titles, and a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.