MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's soccer team nearly dug itself out of a 3-0 hole before mistakes doomed the outcome in falling by a final score of 5-2 to Marquette Tuesday night at Valley Fields.
 
The Panthers (1-5-2) scored twice to make it a game with the Golden Eagles (4-3) early in the second half, only to follow it up with a red card and two goals that were helped into the net to suffer defeat in the "Milwaukee Cup" game for the first time since 2014.
 
"Well, first things first – the first three goals were all off corners," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "Three plays, three goals. In all honesty, it's absolutely unacceptable to be giving up the goals that we are on corners, especially three in a row. As far as the coach goes, I am very disappointed and I let the guys know at halftime."
 
Down 3-0 after allowing those three similar corner-kick goals over the first 33 minutes, MKE pulled one back just before halftime to dig back in. The Panthers tallied at the 42:13 mark to stop the bleeding, scoring after a nice combination of passes from Raul Medina and Josh Kidder left Emil Lindgren Pedersen with a breakaway chance.
 
Lindgren Pedersen took the pass and his first touch was sent back to the far post, making it 3-1 and giving MKE some life.
 
"At the same time, I reminded them a number of years ago [the 2016 Milwaukee Cup], we were down 3-0 at halftime in this game and we came back and at 3-3, had a chance to win it but hit the crossbar," Kelderman said. "It's possible in this environment. The guys came out with great energy and responded."
 
Ten minutes later, Johannes Abdulahad picked up a turnover in back and found Kasper Davidsson in the midfield. Davidsson hit Logan Farrington in stride on the break and he did the rest, scoring his third of the campaign to make it 3-2 at the 52:36 mark.
 
On the ensuing possession, Marquette's keeper sent a long ball down the field. Gijs Van Schouten went to grab it but was out of the goal box at the time. A red card was handed out and Milwaukee was forced to play with 10 for the final 36:38 of the evening.
 
"We got it to 3-2 and then, unfortunately, the error with the handball out of the box was very costly," Kelderman said. "I will say this, playing a man down against a very good team – Marquette is very technical and takes advantage of a lot of their opportunities – you have your hands full at that point. All I can do is ask my guys to fight at that point and we did. We hung in there, a man down, and fought until the end."
 
The free kick that was set up from the card resulted in a goal when it deflected off the defense and then, in the 68^th minute, the MKE back line failed to clear a shot and sent it right into the net to take the air out of any comeback attempt and make it 5-2.
 
The opening half did not go well for the Panthers, who were playing well despite some early pressure from Marquette. Van Schouten made a pair of early saves and the team put together its first chances in the 12^th minute, seeing Gabe Anguil force a save and Farrington blast a header just over the crossbar on the next possession.
 
From there it was all Marquette, and all Alex Mirsberger. It was a case of déjà vu for the defense, allowing Mirsberger headers on three corner kicks, recording the first hat trick for an MU player since 2011 by finding the back of the net in the 18^th, 31^st and 33^rd minutes.
 
The final stats leaned to the home team, finishing with advantages of 22-8 in shots, 12-5 in shots on goal, and 17-2 in corner kicks. Farrington paced the offense with four shots.
 
Up next, the team returns to Horizon League play Saturday at Cleveland State, set for a 6 p.m. CST start.