MILWAUKEE – Horizon League Tournament MVP Kayla Rollins scored both goals – including the game-winning penalty kick in the 66^th minute – to send the Milwaukee women's soccer team over Northern Kentucky by a final score of 2-1 to claim the Horizon League Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (12-6-2) played with the lead from the 31^st minute on until the Norse (12-7-1) equalized at the 58:37 mark. Rollins' PK next stood up, sending the team to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh year in a row and the 18th time in program history. The result also gave head coach Kevin Boyd victory No. 250 of his storied career.
 
"The game was tight the entire time," Boyd said. "I actually thought we responded to the NKU goal extremely well. The next moments were us attacking again. This team … 'resilient' is the word I have for them in terms of coming out of non-conference and going through the league the way that we did. When it got to conference, we were unstoppable this year – I mean 37 goals for and three against is unbelievable. What a remarkable achievement that is in itself. I am really proud of this team."
 
The brace continued a red-hot stretch for Rollins, who has now scored goals in seven consecutive contests. In those seven games, she has recorded 12 goals and a pair of assists and now finds herself among the leading scorers in the nation with her 18 goals and 39 points.
 
"After we conceded that goal, we came together and we're like 'hey we got this, let's just get refocused and keep going hard' because we knew we had the game – we just had to finish our chances and we got one a bit after that," Rollins said during the postgame celebration. "I try to have a shooter's mentality and when I have the chance, I am going to take the shot. And my team really gets me in position to have those opportunities so it's amazing to have them with me. We can't always just come and say 'we're gonna win', we just have to fight every time and get the result we want."
 
After plenty of possession and a couple decent looks, Milwaukee finally broke through in the 31st minute on a counterattack. A clearance in back from Savannah Sievert was helped along by a header from Senya Meurer to the foot of Molly O'Regan. She played give-and-go with Rollins near midfield before sending a thru ball for Rollins to close on, netting her 17^th of the season at the 30:02 mark.
 
Playing with the lead, it looked like it was 2-0 on yet another Rollins goal in the 56^th minute, but her strike was ruled to be cleared off the line by the NKU defender. The call was a big one, as just two minutes later, the Norse equalized on a ball that was saved off the crossbar and punched in at the 58:37 mark.
 
The MKE offense stayed calm and kept pressing, with the big opportunity coming just six minutes later. O'Regan found Lainey Higgins in the box for a shot, which turned into a handball call off a Norse defender. Rollins stepped to the spot and converted, handing the Panthers the 2-1 lead at the 65:06 mark. Rollins nearly compounded the damage on the ensuing possession, but her header off a cross from O'Regan went inches wide just 34 seconds later.
 
NKU pushed hard the rest of the way, yet the Panther defense stood up to the task. Parker Donahugh came up with a spectacular save in the 72^nd minute, diving to stop a close-range attempt and keep the advantage at 2-1. The stop was one of a career-high nine saves for the reigning Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year.
 
The postseason victory extends MKE's unbeaten streak in Horizon League Tournament play to an impressive 17 in a row at 14-0-3, last dropping a conference postseason match in 2016.
 
"There is a culture of winning here, and I joined in," Boyd said. "My job was trying to keep that culture going and we absolutely have. We play with our style, but the grit and resilience, and the passion, and the striving to win is still in the culture here, same as it was for our alumni 15 years ago … we are just the stewards maintaining it right now."
 
On the day, the visitors did finish with advantages of 17-15 in total shots, as well as 10-7 in shots on goal. But Milwaukee had eight of the nine corners and finished with 62 percent of possession on the afternoon. Rollins led the way with a career-best seven shot attempts; Higgins was next with three.
 
Rollins' 39 points and 18 goals on the year are among the best in single-season totals in program history, both now the highest by someone other than Sarah Hagen's four-year career marks from 2008-2011.
 
"Talk about unstoppable – she clearly is it," Boyd said of Rollins. "She is just finding ways to get to goal right now and that special relationship between her and Lainey (Higgins). Lainey gets the ball and finds Kayla on a regular basis. She's on an unbelievable run and we are getting to enjoy watching it."
 
Up next, the team will find out its NCAA Tournament destination Monday, where fans can celebrate with the Panthers as they learn their NCAA Tournament opponent. On Monday, November 11, join the team at the Gasthaus inside UWM's Student Union for an NCAA Women's Soccer Selection Show Watch Party. The event gets underway at 2:30 p.m. with the selection show starting at 3 p.m. Food and beverage will be available for purchase and admission will be free. First-round NCAA Tournament action will take place November 15-17.
 
2024 #HLWSOC All-Tournament Team
Kayla Rollins, Milwaukee (Championship MVP)
Lainey Higgins, Milwaukee
Senya Meurer, Milwaukee
Elizabeth Reece, Milwaukee
Kylie Anderson, Northern Kentucky
Emilie Doersching, Northern Kentucky
Kaya Vogt, Northern Kentucky
Soraya Puerto-Khalil, Detroit Mercy
Marisa Silver, Detroit Mercy
Jill Marvin, RMU
Brenna Murray, RMU