MILWAUKEE – Lainey Higgins scored a pair of goals – including the first just 34 seconds into the match – to power the Milwaukee women's soccer team to a 4-0 victory over Youngstown State Thursday night at Engelmann Stadium.
The Panthers (5-6-2, 4-0-1 Horizon League) didn't add to the early lead against the Penguins (4-8-2, 2-4-0 Horizon League) until 95 seconds into the second half, but pulled away late with a pair of impressive strikes to round out the scoring.
The offense was clicking all evening, just missing out on numerous other goals including a pair off the crossbar. The team finished with 29 total shots to mark the fifth consecutive contest of 20-plus shots – the longest such streak for the team since 2008. The victory also improved MKE to 12-0 all-time against YSU at Engelmann and also extended the team's unbeaten streak in regular-season Horizon League play to 24 (18-0-6) in a row.
"Pretty special start there," head coach
Kevin Boyd said. "Ellie (Rebmann) got it and put a really good ball across right in front of the keeper and Lainey's timing and her finish was exceptional. We stayed on top of them for the half – they had a couple of chances early on crosses that were really dangerous. But I felt like the longer the first half went on, the more of it we got ahold of and it was just an issue of us being more dangerous in our finishing and trying to put balls on frame."
Higgins' first goal came before most fans even found their seats.
Ellie Rebmann created the opportunity with a perfect serve to the goal front, where Higgins was waiting with a well-placed header to make it 1-0. The goal was actually the third-fastest to open a game in program history, trailing only a goal at the 0:26 mark back in 1998 as well as Jelena Sever's NCAA-record goal on the opening kickoff that went in just three seconds into play back in 2021 – coincidentally also coming against the Penguins.
Despite an 11-2 advantage in shots at the break, Milwaukee could not build on the lead until after intermission. It was Higgins again, blasting one from distance off the crossbar and in for her Horizon League-leading seventh of the season at the 46:35 mark.
It wasn't for lack of chances that the game wasn't more lopsided than it was.
Lola Wojcik had a close-range shot knocked away by a team save in the 13
th minute and
Molly O'Regan cracked her first of two off the crossbar off a nice pass from Higgins in the 24
th minute.
"Second half … what you get when you are attacking and things are going you're way, you get some special goals," Boyd said. "Really exceptional performance by the team. We were fortunate we had a break in our schedule. We had a couple of days to rest and I think it made a massive difference with the team."
It was more of the same until late in the second.
Kayla Rollins sent one just wide on the break in the 53
rd and O'Regan pounded the crossbar again in the 58
th minute.
Stephanie Recinos also came oh-so-close to a goal, sending a blast on frame in the 76
th minute that was saved impressively at the post by the YSU keeper.
It got late before MKE added to the scoreline, seeing
Senya Meurer send a free kick over the four-person wall and into the corner of the goal at the 83:36 mark to make it 3-0.
It was
Maya Wilson's time to shine next in the 89
th, heading in
Anna Champine's well-saved shot in front that rebounded to her for the header for her first collegiate goal.
"Not to take anything away from Youngstown State either," Boyd said. "They were coming off back-to-back wins and were playing quite well. They are a well-organized team, they attack in a dangerous way, but we were just on one tonight."
Not to be lost in the offense was the work of
Parker Donahugh, who lowered her goals-against average in league play to a miniscule 0.20, recording her fourth clean sheet in five conference games with a career-high tying seven saves on the evening. She made several key stops on shots from distance, including one in the 19
th where she popped the ball over the crossbar at the final second to keep the lead at 1-0 at the time.
For the game, the stats were in favor of the home team to the count of 29-9 in overall shots, 11-7 in shots on goal, and 7-4 in corner kicks. Higgins contributed a career-high seven shot attempts while finishing with her second career multi-goal effort (also two against Green Bay 10/25/23). Rollins, O'Regan, and
Zoey Pagels all chipped in three attempts.
Up next, the team hits the road to take on Purdue Fort Wayne Sunday, scheduled for a stating time of 12 p.m. CT.
