ROCHESTER, Mich. – On a tough night of weather and field conditions, a valiant effort by the Milwaukee men's soccer team came up just short in falling to Robert Morris by a final score of 1-0 Thursday night at Oakland Soccer Field.
 
The Panthers (9-5-5) and Colonials (8-6-3) battled through 90 minutes on a wet, rainy, cold night while playing on a field that was already torn up by the first Horizon League Tournament semifinal played earlier in the day. Quality chances were tough to find either way and RMU made the only goal in the 65^th minute stand up to advance to the league championship Saturday afternoon.
 
"Unfortunate result today, obviously everybody had high hopes of advancing to the final," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "The guys gave everything that they had. We ask ourselves to make sure that we bring what we can control and that's our fight, our work ethic, and being good teammates … and that was all in place tonight. Had a few chances and gave ourselves an opportunity to get a result today so I am extremely proud for the guys."
 
Milwaukee concludes the 2024 season by advancing back to the postseason with a 9-5-5 campaign, making it to the tournament semifinals for the fourth time in the past six seasons under Kelderman's watch. The team was picked to finish eighth in the 2024 preseason poll and ended the season tied for second place.
 
"More importantly, as I addressed the guys after – there is a lot of disappointment with losing 10 guys to graduation." Kelderman said. "It's a tough moment for them and for everybody, but told the guys 'listen, we may not have prevailed on the scoreboard today, but we all go home winners'. We went from last place to second place from one season to the next. The definition of success is where you are now, compared to where you were before. And it was a huge step and the guys have a lot to be proud of from this season."
 
A slog of a first half went to the break 0-0, with both teams having to deal with rough patches of turf and slippery conditions. The MKE defense did well, with Daniel Ibarra called on for a single save on a 24^th minute corner kick and a key block by Ryan Berghauer in the 20^th minute to prevent what would have been a 1-on-1 chance to goal for the Colonials.
 
As the game wore on, the weather conditions improved and opened up the contest a bit, seeing 17 of the 22 total shots of the match come after intermission.
 
One of Milwaukee's best came in the 56^th minute and was started by an Ibarra goal kick. It was headed by Felix Huwiler over the back line to Bienvenu Djunga, but a nice RMU save kept the scoreboard at 0-0.
 
The defense created MKE's next chance, with Berghauer picking the ball off in back and sending a long pass to Alejandro Martinez. His attempt from the wing just missed finding the inside of the right post in the 62^nd minute.
 
Ibarra came up with the next key play, making a great save in the box to push aside a close-range attempt. The rebound was loose and sent off the crossbar by Robert Morris and back into play in the 64^th minute.
 
The Colonials finally broke through at the 64:35 mark, getting a shot that was partially stopped, but had enough momentum on it to trickle across the goal line before a Panther defender could knock it away.
 
Milwaukee kept pressing, seeing Daiki Kumakawa not miss by much from distance in the 68^th minute. On the next possession, a combination of passes from Mesfin Roda to Kumakawa again found Martinez, who wound up and fired on goal from the left wing. RMU keeper Josh Lane went airborne and got just enough of it to knock it off the crossbar and out of play at the 68:59 mark.
 
The Panthers had the better of it late, but a couple of decent offensive build-ups were slowed by slipping feet and a free kick in the 82^nd minute resulted in a quality strike by Martinez, but right at the goalkeeper.
 
For the game, the Colonials concluded the night with advantages of 15-7 in total shots and the 5-3 edge in shots on goal. The Panthers had six of the 10 corner kicks of the contest, seeing Martinez led the way with three shot attempts. In goal, Ibarra was credited with four saves in the tough decision.