MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's soccer team overcame a second-half deficit to lead 3-2 on a 69th-minute penalty kick from Lainey Higgins but had to settle for a 3-3 draw after Denver scored a late goal Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (2-0-2) trailed the Pioneers (0-0-4) by a score of 2-1 in the 55^th minute before forging ahead of the five-time defending regular-season Summit League champions, eventually earning a draw that gave them the team title on the weekend in the "Challenge Cup" at 1-0-1.
 
"I thought we handled a challenging system matchup pretty well," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "When we are creating those chances, we need to put teams away by getting results. There are good ties and bad ties and this is probably a 'bad tie' to us based on the stats and the way the game went. But we are still undefeated, we will move on, and focus on the next one."
 
It was an afternoon of close-calls and near-misses for the Milwaukee offense, hitting the post on a pair of occasions while also having two close-range scoring efforts blocked at the line on its way to a 25-to-16 advantage in shots on the afternoon, also forcing seven of the nine corner kicks on the day.
 
"A lot chances both ways and we are unhappy with giving up three," Boyd said. "All three were similar and that's not good for us, so we have to be better that way but we created a tremendous amount of chances – we got three out of it but we should have had more. We left a lot on the table today."
 
The Panthers scored first, seeing Kayla Rollins one-time a great serve at the far post for a 1-0 lead at the 15:24 mark, with Elizabeth Reece and Kat Van Booven picking up assists on the play.
 
Denver found an equalizer on a fortunate hop in the 22^nd minute, heading in a ball popped up at the end line by the defense to make it 1-1.
 
From there, it was a bit frustrating for the offense in not being able to retake the lead before intermission. Stephanie Recinos headed a Van Booven corner kick off the right post in the 31^st minute and Lainey Higgins sent a blast off the post in the 38^th. A minute later, Emma Famulak found herself in tight but had her shot blocked and the score remained 1-1 at the break.
 
The Pioneers took a 2-1 lead at the 54:38 mark, but two goals in less than two minutes put MKE back ahead. The first came off another corner. Senya Meuer sent the ball back in front, seeing Clara Broecker's header head on frame. The ball was not able to be controlled and Brooke Parnello pounced on it to level it at 2-2.
 
"At the end of it, our team is never out of it – we're just not," Boyd said. "We aren't going to fall apart for anything and will keep coming at you the best we can. It doesn't matter … to the dying second, we are still going to be working and trying. That's just the nature of who we are."
 
Just 1:59 later, Van Booven was fouled in the box and Higgins blasted in the PK to put her team ahead 3-2 at the 68:18 mark.
 
DU then snuck a goal in off the bottom of the crossbar to close out the scoring at the 81:56 mark.
 
For the game, MKE also grabbed the 10-9 edge in shots on goal. Van Booven led the way with five shots, while Higgins and Rollins recorded four apiece.
 
Kendall Edwards made five saves in net for Milwaukee; Molly Wissman was credited with seven for Denver.
 
The "Challenge Cup" saw Milwaukee go 1-0-1, Denver 0-0-2, Minnesota 1-1, and Marquette 0-1-1 on the weekend. Higgins picked up MVP honors, while Van Booven, Broecker, and Jenni Andjelic were named to the all-tournament team.
 
Up next, Milwaukee continues its difficult opening to the season, traveling to take on an Arkansas team Thursday that is currently ranked No. 10 in the country. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. CST.
 
2023 "Challenge Cup"
MVP: Lainey Higgins, Milwaukee
 
All-Tournament Team
Jenni Andjelic, Milwaukee
Kat Van Booven, Milwaukee
Clara Broecker, Milwaukee
Izzy Brown, Minnesota
Megan Nemec, Minnesota
Amelia Brown, Minnesota
Liv Moritz, Denver
Hannah Gallegos, Denver
Vanessa Murray, Denver
Hailey Block, Marquette
Isa Cook, Marquette