YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Haley Johnson scored with six seconds left in regulation to help the Milwaukee women's soccer team escape with a 1-1 draw against Youngstown State on the road Monday morning at Farmers National Bank Field.
 
Things did not look good for the Panthers (5-3-2, 2-1-1 Horizon League) in the closing minute of their game which was postponed from Sunday, but a late foul by the Penguins (2-6-3, 0-2-2 Horizon League) provided an opportunity with the clock stopped with just 9.9 seconds remaining.
 
"It was just a strange, ill-fated trip for us as a whole," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "It started with a situation with the bus not showing up Saturday, so we had to change training times and just a lot of things happened that way. Then we get into the game (Sunday) – playing pretty well and 15 minutes in, the game gets shut down due to lightning. We sat around for a couple of hours and then we had to scramble to find hotels, meals, all of that fun stuff."
 
Fast-forward to the closing seconds today, where Lainey Higgins took the free kick and found Johnson, scoring her third goal of the season with a header at the 89:54 mark to help secure the 1-1 tie.
 
"We ended up getting a goal in the last five seconds," Boyd said. "So we traded set-piece goals with the opponent and walked away with one point. But, very disappointed in the overall play by ourselves. It took us as coaches too long to figure out the scheme that our opponent was playing. As a whole, we just need to be more consistent in our effort and in the quality that we play. But credit to the team, for dealing with an awful lot of adversity the past three days and still coming out with a point on the road."
 
It was a tale of two halves on the day, as Youngstown State came out in the second half and buckled down on an MKE offense that was playing well over the opening 45 minutes. YSU also came up with a big goal, scoring at the 49:11 mark to put Milwaukee on its heels with the 1-0 deficit.
 
"We didn't start the second half the way we wanted to in terms of the intensity," Boyd said. "That was a learning moment for all of us and we ended up giving up another goal that we shouldn't have. And then we chased it after that. We were getting chances; we weren't making them overly dangerous. We were really on top of them the final 10 minutes."
 
Unable to put a lot together after a sharp opening frame, the Panthers did not put a second-half shot on goal until the 86^th minute, with attempts in the 59^th minute (Higgins), 78^th (Breanna Culver), 81^st (Culver again), and 82^nd (Johnson) all off the mark.
 
Brooke Parnello forced a tough save at the 85:55 mark and then the big call in the closing seconds opened the door for Johnson to come through.
 
The contest was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed a day due to weather-related issues. The two teams kicked off at 12 PM CST but could only get 14:19 of the match completed yesterday before heavy rain and lightning entered the area. Lightning delays kept up all afternoon and, following over two hours of delays, the decision was made to postpone the contest to Monday.
 
Back on the field today, MKE ended the first half with nine shots – all on goal – but found themselves in a scoreless affair.
 
"Then we got back out today, winds were 20 miles an hour, with gusts up to 38, so now we were dealing with a new weather factor," Boyd said. "We did alright at the start and then they got a large piece of the game and had a hold of it. We weren't really giving up any dangerous chances, which is a credit to our team."
 
For the game, Milwaukee ended up with advantages of 15-8 in shots, an overwhelming 11-2 in shots on goal, and a 2-1 edge in corner kicks. Johnson paced the offense with four shots, putting three on target. Higgins added three shots to her game-tying assist. Parker Donahugh was credited with one save in her performance.
 
Up next, Horizon League play rolls on, opening the month of October with a road trip to take on Purdue Fort Wayne Oct. 1.