MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's soccer team blew open a close game with four goals in the second half on its way to a 5-0 victory over Robert Morris Thursday afternoon in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals at Engelmann Stadium.
 
"We felt comfortable about what we did in the first half, but we didn't feel like we had enough quality in front of the goal," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "We were getting chances; they were just always difficult. So we talked about trying to get that second goal and really seal in the game. A 1-0 lead is nice to have but the game can get turned on its ear really quick with just one goal. So, our focus was coming out and finding another goal and we did quickly. Our quality was so much better in the second half."
 
The Panthers (11-2-5) led the Colonials (12-5-3) by a 1-0 margin at the break before erupting for four scores in a span of just over 31 minutes after intermission.
 
"I want to give credit to Robert Morris," Boyd said. "I think they had a tremendous season. They are a very good team … a really good job by Coach Shaw and his team this season."
 
Molly O'Regan led the way with a pair of goals, with the MKE offense also getting one goal/one assist performances from Kayla Rollins, Brooke Parnello, and Emma Famulak. Famulak also netted the first goal of the day to pick up the game-winner.
 
The Panthers dominated the first half, outshooting the visitors by a 13-0 count while maintaining 2/3 of possession yet had just the one goal to show for it. That came at the 36:23 mark, when Famulak pounced on a rebound save to net her second goal of the season, with the assist going to Clara Broecker.
 
The team kept up the pressure and eventually found a second goal, this time coming off a free kick from near midfield from Lainey Higgins. Her service into the box was originally cleared out of danger, but Rollins came flying in with the header to make it 2-0 with her 12^th goal of the season at the 53:03 mark.
 
Rollins set up the next strike, with Parnello bombing in a brilliant goal from the wing from distance for her third of the season.
 
O'Regan made the most of her 37 minutes of playing time, heading in a sideline serve from Parnello in the 77^th minute before adding the brace off a nice combination of passes from Stephanie Recinos and Famulak in the 85^th minute to close out the scoring.
 
For the day, it was all MKE. The team posted advantages of 20-6 in total shots, 12-3 in shots on goal, and wrapped up the contest with 65 percent possession. Higgins led the way with six shots; Rolins recorded five. The Panther defense did not allow a shot of any kind to RMU until the 68^th minute. In net, Kendall Edwards recorded three saves for her seventh shutout of the season.
 
The big win sends Milwaukee to the championship game for the eighth straight season, where it will meet Northern Kentucky. The Norse advanced by a score of 4-3 in a penalty-kick shootout against IUPUI after the two teams played to a 1-1 draw.
 
Game time is set for 1 p.m. Saturday with the Panthers in search of their 17^th trip all-time to the NCAA Tournament as well as their sixth in a row.