ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Milwaukee men's soccer team got an early goal from Alan Lopez but was unable to find the net the rest of the way despite creating numerous chances all match, falling by a final score of 2-1 against Oakland Saturday afternoon at OU Soccer Field.
 
The Panthers (3-5-1, 1-3 Horizon League) led the Golden Grizzlies (3-5-2, 2-2 Horizon League) just 2:43 into the match, but found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard at the conclusion of the match after a career-day from the OU keeper in net.
 
"It was a tough outing today on the road against a pretty strong Oakland team," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "I was pretty pleased with how we started out the game, scoring early in the match on a very good effort from Alan Lopez and I felt we were jelling pretty well. We created some pretty good opportunities that I felt that, not only we could have – but we should have – finished, but it was promising that we were creating chances. We were actually in a position where we could have been up 2-0 or 3-0 at the half."
 
The MKE offense connected on its first shot of the afternoon, with Lopez finishing a pass from Raul Medina for his second goal of the campaign.
 
From there until the half, it was a combination of close calls and great saves from OU's Michael Sly Jr., with Milwaukee recording seven shots throughout the remainder of the first half. Sly Jr. saved six of them, with five different players coming close to what would have been a big second goal.
 
"We have been struggling the past few matches in getting that second goal and build on a one-goal advantage, which makes the game much tougher on ourselves," Kelderman said. "A failure to finish some really good looks today did us in a bit."
 
Unfortunately it was Oakland that found a way next, scoring in the 28^th minute to level the match at 1-1.
 
The Panthers kept up the pressure but Sly Jr. kept responding, finishing with nine saves overall that was just one off his career-best of 10 against Michigan last year.
 
"We knew the game was going to get tougher," Kelderman said. "We had a couple of good opportunities in the second half as well. We hit the crossbar later in the match but at the end of the day, seeking three points in a conference game and we didn't get it done today. But the effort was pretty good from our guys. We had our chances to get a result today and we let one slip away."
 
The Grizzlies then took a 2-1 lead on a header in the 73^rd minute. Lopez had an opportunity at what would have been a second goal, but it went cracking off the crossbar in the 78^th minute and Sly Jr. came up with a big save against Asher Ozuzu in the 89^th minute to seal the victory.
 
For the game, MKE took the 10-4 advantage in shots on target, despite getting outshot overall by a slim count of 18-16. The home team also earned 10 of the 12 corner kicks on the afternoon. In net, Dniel Ibarra was credited with a pair of saves and Lopez (5 shots) and Stu Sain (4 shots) paced the offensive attack.
 
The Panthers remain on the road to open October, heading to Minnesota to take on St. Thomas Tuesday. Game time is set for 4 p.m. from St. Paul.