MADISON, Wis. – A late goal spoiled what had been a strong team defensive effort as the Milwaukee men's soccer team dropped a tough 2-1 decision to Wisconsin Tuesday evening at McClimon Soccer Complex.
 
The Panthers (4-8-3) took a lead early in the second half before the Badgers (6-4-5) found the equalizer off a fortunate bounce and then tallied the winner off an unexpected giveaway very late in regulation.
 
Level at 1-1 with the match ticking away, a mis-hit on a goal kick turned into a desperation chance through traffic for UW, finding a way to sneak in the winner at the 87:28 mark.
 
Daniel Ibarra made four saves in deserving a better fate on the evening.
 
Scoreless until the 59^th minute, the Panthers got on the board on what were their first two shots of the match. Raul Medina dropped off a pass to the wing for Bienvenu Djunga, who launched a shot on goal. That attempt was saved, but the rebound was there for Josh Kidder to bury and give Milwaukee the 1-0 lead at the 58:51 mark.
 
It was nearly Kidder again in the 63^rd minute, only to see his turn-and-shoot from the top of the 18 wind up a few feet outside of the left post.
 
The Badgers were fortunate on both goals, starting with the equalizer in the 69^th minute when the Milwaukee backline popped the ball in air. It went directly towards a Wisconsin player streaking towards goal, who played it in for the finish to make it 1-1.
 
The Badgers then pulled out the very fortunate winner late to claim just their second win in the state matchup since 2016 (series 2-2-2 since).
 
Wisconsin did own the better portion of possession in the opening half, but the MKE defense stood tall and really did a strong job in getting the contest to 0-0 at the break. The defense kept UW from connecting passes and Ibarra needed to make just a trio of easy saves in facing five shot attempts to keep the clean sheet intact over the first 45 minutes of action, falling on the final header attempt in the closing seconds in front of the horn. The MKE offense was not able to create a ton of momentum, generating just a handful of free and corner kicks over the course of the opening frame.
 
For the game, the home side earned advantages of 15-4 in shots, 6-2 in shots on goal, and 8-2 in corner kicks. Kidder had half of MKE's shots.
 
Up next, the Panthers play a crucial game in the league standings Saturday, heading to take on IUPUI in Carmel, Ind. Game time is set for 2 p.m. CST.