MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's soccer team opened the 2024 campaign with a 0-0 draw against Lindenwood behind a five-save shutout from Daniel Ibarra Thursday at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (0-0-1) were denied a victory after a strong showing by the Lions (0-0-1) in goal, settling for the draw, the first shutout in a season opener for the team since 2018.
 
Ibarra posted the third shutout of his MKE career, including a spectacular stop in the 36^th minute that helped keep the clean sheet intact.
 
"It was a hard, physical game," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "The first game, you never really know what to expect from your opponent and Lindenwood – they are extremely athletic. They are strong and fast and because of that they play very direct. And that suits them very well and they are good at it. And it's hard to play against and takes a little bit out of the way we prefer to play."
 
The scoring nearly game quickly. Milwaukee earned a corner kick just a minute in and Matthew Toolan's header nearly found the back of the net, only to see a defender knock the ball off the line at the 1:09 mark.
 
The other big opportunity came in the 64^th minute, started by a pass in from Raul Medina. Daiki Kumakawa ripped a blast from about 20 yards out, seeing Enzo Gil make a diving save to his left. The rebound came to Mesfin Roda, who nearly snuck his attempt into the far post corner only to again have a diving stop by the goalkeeper push it just wide.
 
"We created some good chances," Kelderman said. "We could have, and probably should have, gotten a goal out of this game. First and foremost, we gave ourselves a chance to get a result. We stayed in the game, we get the tie, team defense was really good. Unfortunately, we picked up some injuries to some key players, so that is going to be interesting. Overall, first game, five of the 10 field starters are new, two are freshman, so it was like 'let's see what we are made of'. We threw some guys into the fire to see how they would respond. But, fairly pleased considering it was the first game and all of the newness that we have on the roster."
 
The team defense closed it out, fending off a pair of Lindenwood corner kicks in the final 130 seconds to preserve the 0-0 scoreline.
 
For the game, the Panthers finished with advantages of 12-11 in total shots, as well as 6-5 in shots on goal. The Lions had six of the 11 corner kicks on the day, with MKE the 17-13 finish in the foul count. Angel Gongora led the offense with three shots, while Alejandro Martinez, Bienvenu Djunga, and Kumakawa all recorded a pair.
 
Up next, the team remains home for a match Sunday, welcoming Bradley to town for a 1 p.m. start at Engelmann Stadium.