MADISON, Wis. – No. 12 Wisconsin broke open a scoreless contest with a pair of second-half goals to hand the Milwaukee women's soccer team a 2-0 loss Friday night at the McClimon Soccer Complex in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Panthers (12-3-5) played the nationally-ranked Badgers (14-4-4) to a scoreless battle well into the second half before giving up a goal.
 
"We started well and then we got rattled," head coach Kevin Boyd said "I don't know why we got rattled, but once we did we struggled to get back in the game. And it gave them confidence … and the more confidence they had the better they played. Credit to Wisconsin for the way they played today, they were quite good. For us, it wasn't our best game and we know it."
 
Kendall Edwards made 10 saves in net, including several spectacular stops to keep her team in the game. Her total tied for fifth-most in a game in program history.
 
"I thought my goalkeeper was outstanding – really, really good," Boyd said. "But any time you are talking about how good your goalkeeper is, it probably means you don't play that well with the ball. We defended pretty well; our attacking game didn't show up today."
 
The MKE offense had trouble converting chances into shot attempts early and then had to chase the action after falling behind. Jenni Andjelic had a look late, but her attempt off an 84^th-minute corner kick was blocked.
 
The team came out of the gates strong, getting good early pressure. Kat Van Booven led that charge, also recording the first MKE shot attempt.
 
Edwards didn't need to do much the first 20 minutes but then stepped up when asked to, starting with a brilliant save in the 39^th minute after a corner kick flew through and went to the far side, diving to close the gap and knock it wide of the post.
 
She also made another brilliant stop in the 58^th minute on a volleyed square ball, keeping it at 0-0 at the time before UW would find its first strike at the 59:15 mark.
 
The Badgers, the #4 seed in the tournament bracket, finished with advantages of 19-2 in shots as well as 12-1 in shots on target.
 
The decision concludes the 2023 season for the Panthers, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth year in a row after claiming the Horizon League Tournament crown as well as claiming the conference regular-season title for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
 
"Outstanding, it just shows what their level is and what their talent is," Boyd said of the graduating Panthers. "Each in their own way contributed to what we were this year. It was a great senior class – they did a really nice job."