MILWAUKEE – A 2-0 lead on goals from Raul Medina and Asher Ozuzu did not hold up for the Milwaukee men's soccer team Sunday afternoon, falling by a final score of 3-2 after a late comeback from Chicago State at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (0-1) dominated the stat sheet against the Cougars (1-1) in their season opener but could not put away the win after three goals in the final 13-plus minutes helped the visitors escape with the unexpected victory.
 
"I thought we had a good showing and we were playing well," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "If we could just take that final 13 minutes back – not quite sure what happened but something did and it hit us pretty hard. I know fatigue kicked in as well, but we should have been smarter in some situations. When we had a 2-0 lead, we could have slowed the game down but I think we still had the eagerness to go forward and force things when we could have maybe made the game a little easier for ourselves."
 
Up 2-0 with the game winding down, the Cougars netted their first off a deflected pass in front at the 76:22 mark. They took advantage of some good fortune again in the 85^th minute, with Danail Sergiev in the right place at the right time to slot home a shot deflected from one side of the goal to the other. The go-ahead goal came 76 seconds later and the stunned Panthers had less than five minutes to try and earn a draw.
 
"Give Chicago State credit," Kelderman said. "They pushed and they got after it. It's unfortunate on the goals that were scored. No disrespect, but I think that two, and maybe all three, were off deflections. They say you make your luck, but we definitely were pretty unlucky on a couple of plays. I thought our goalkeeper was outstanding – none of the goals were on Danny (MKE GK Daniel Ibarra) at all. It's frustrating and I feel bad. The guys put on a really good showing outside of the final 13 minutes."
 
The show started early, with Medina heading in a failed clearance to make it 1-0 at the 9:34 mark.
 
Medina nearly had a second, but an impressive save by the CSU keeper on a 25-yard free kick kept it at 1-0 about 10 minutes later.
 
Ozuzu then came through with his first collegiate goal, finishing a pass in front from Daiki Kumakawa before celebrating with an impressive backflip to make it 2-0 at the 24:51 mark.
 
Ibarra was up to the task to keep it that way in the 33^rd minute, coming off his line to make a great save on a clear-cut Cougar opportunity. He then did it again just after intermission, making an impressive full-out diving stop off a free kick from the wing at the 46:10 mark of the afternoon.
 
Ozuzu nearly had a second on a breakaway chance in the 58^th minute, seeing his attempt go just wide of the right post. Then, in the closing minutes, Bienvenu Djunga fired inches wide at the 88:07 mark and the decision was essentially sealed as the CSU defense was able to kill the rest of the game.
 
For the day, the Milwaukee offense was very good, recording advantages of 22-10 in overall shots, 6-5 in shots on goal, and 10-5 in corner kicks. Djunga finished with a game-high seven shots, while Ozuzu and Medina ended the match with four apiece. Ibarra was credited with two saves in the hard-luck decision.
 
 Up next, the new season rolls on hosting Northwestern Friday, set to start at 7 p.m.