EDWARDSVILLE. Ill. – The Milwaukee women's soccer team scored a pair of second-half goals to claim a 3-1 victory over SIUE in a game it dominated from start to finish Sunday afternoon at Korte Stadium.
 
"On a long road trip like this – where you play at Notre Dame Thursday and all of the energy that went into that – and then it's a 5 ½ -hour drive to the SIUE area and playing in some quite warm conditions today," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "I thought the team did a nice job overcoming a lot of challenges and finding a win."
 
The Panthers (1-0-1) outshot the Cougars (0-2) by a total count of 13-to-3 on the afternoon, allowing just the one goal on SIUE's only shot of the first half just before intermission before putting the game away in the second half on a hot day where the heat index reached triple-digits.
 
"We are walking away not satisfied with the way that we played – we feel we can play a whole lot better than we are right now," Boyd said. "But to be able to find results when you aren't playing at your best is a great sign. Our focus now is to just get better. We're still working on improving on our end, but quite happy that we got a win on the road."
 
After some early pressure, Milwaukee nearly got on the board in the 19^th minute off a Lainey Higgins free kick, but Kayla Rollins' header went flying just over the bar.
 
The first goal came at the 29:12 mark, started by a nice pass from Cate Cullison near midfield. That call found Emma Famulak and she did the rest, taking a touch to settle on the right wing before turning back into goal. Her left-footed shot found the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.
 
The Cougars, coming off their third straight Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship, took advantage just before intermission to level the match. Following a long kick from the goalie and a thru ball, SIUE's only shot of the first half found its way in with just 25 seconds remaining before the halftime horn.
 
The second half was all MKE, ending in a 7-2 shots advantage. Lainey Higgins netted the eventual game-winner on a great individual effort, picking up a turnover just outside the circle at midfield, taking a few touches on her way to goal and depositing it in the left corner from about 20 yards out to make it 2-1 at the 51:37 mark.
 
Kat Van Booven then closed out the scoring in the 56^th minute, running onto a thru ball down the left side before streaking to goal. Her close-range shot was heading towards the open far post before deflecting off a backline defender and into the other side for her second goal on the young season to make it 3-1.
 
Van Booven had an opportunity for a brace late, beating the charging goalie and one-touching a ball sent over the top of the defense from Anna Champine that went just inches wide of the right post at the 87:36 mark.
 
Stats for the game featured the 13-3 MKE shots advantage, which included a 7-2 edge in shots on goal. Milwaukee also had three of the five corner kicks with Van Booven leading the offense with five shots.
 
In goal, Kendall Edwards allowed the first-half goal and was called on to make just one save after that, coming up with a solid stop in the 73^rd minute to limit the SIUE to one on the day.
 
Milwaukee opens the home portion of the schedule next, welcoming Minnesota and Denver to the Milwaukee area for the "Challenge Cup". The Panthers host the Golden Gophers at Engelmann Thursday August 24 at 7 p.m.