MADISON, Wis. – A pair of goals from Kayla Rollins made it a contest, but the Milwaukee women's soccer team was unable to finish off a late comeback in falling 3-2 to Wisconsin Thursday night at McClimon Soccer Complex.
 
"Credit to Wisconsin, I thought they were a very good team," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "They presented some problems we have not seen from another team yet. From that standpoint it was good for us to learn and see as well."
 
The Panthers (3-2-1) fell behind by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 against the Badgers (4-1-2) but never gave up, nearly coming up with the equalizer in the closing minutes.
 
"We spent our first 45 minutes learning – that's what it looked like," Boyd said. "The first 45 we didn't compete, we didn't play with confidence, we didn't attack aggressively … all of the things that we have been starting to set our identity as, we didn't do. And that's what the halftime talk was. It was a motivational 'let's go' and I thought we did really well in the second half. We competed great, went and found two goals – if you look at the half, we won the second half 2-1."
 
The second half was much better for the MKE offense, flipping the script on the first half and outshooting the hosts 7-3 while producing both goals by Rollins, her team-leading third and fourth of the season.
 
Down 2-0 at intermission, the team came out with some inspired play and Rollins first of the game made it 2-1 just 3:43 into the second half.
 
"I thought the second half was a very good game for both teams," Boyd said. "I thought it was a battle. I wish we could have the first half over again."
 
The first scoring play came off a corner kick from Anna Karam, redirected back to the near post by Haley Johnson. The offense continued to create opportunities and the next goal of the game was key. Unfortunately it was the Badgers that struck next, scoring against the run of play on a nice individual effort.
 
"Defending is our bread and butter – we cannot let that happen," Boyd said. "She dribbled thru three or four players and just stuck it away. We cannot allow that to happen. That's not us at all."
 
It was Rollins again to cut the deficit to one, however, firing a left-footed pass from Johnson in the box past the goalie to send the score to 3-2 at the 81:20 mark. That was as close as MKE could get, running out of time down the stretch.
 
It was a tough first half for the Panthers, who deserved a better fate than being down 2-0. Neither team could get anything going at the start, with the first shot for either team registered in the 17^th minute.
 
The Badgers scored on their next possession, with Kendall Edwards making a brilliant stop of a first attempt, but could only get a piece of the rebound before it crossed the line for a 1-0 lead at the 16:55 mark.
 
Karam made a nice team save in the 25^th minute, but the offense could never get clicking, getting outshot 8-1 over the first 45 minutes. Wisconsin then grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 41^st minute, netting a strike off a long free kick with a wraparound shot around the defense, sneaking it inside the far post.
 
For the game, UW finished with advantages of 11-9 in shots and 7-5 in shots on goal, while each team forced five corner kicks. Rollins led the offense with three shots; Johnson had a pair of assists. Edwards, making her first collegiate start, was credited with three saves.
 
Horizon League play gets underway next, starting things off with a trip to Ohio to take on Wright State Thursday. Then, it's back home to host Robert Morris Sunday afternoon.