MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's soccer team struck first but could not overcome a second-half surge by Harvard in falling by a final score of 4-2 Thursday night at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (1-6) came out strong and led on a goal from Lainey Higgins, only to see the Crimson (4-0-2) – who came into the game ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches East Region Poll and had only allowed one goal on the season – tie things up before the break and then carry that momentum into the second half.
 
"I liked the way we started both halves, to be honest," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "The goal we got was nice. What bothers me is that we gave one up within five minutes."
 
Higgins struck for her team-leading fourth goal of the season at the 29:13 mark, running onto a through ball from Zoey Pagels and finishing exceptionally well to stake MKE to the 1-0 advantage.
 
Harvard then found an equalizer just a few minutes later, getting a goal from a deep shot from near the sideline to make it 1-1, which was how the game went into the break.
 
The Crimson then struck in the 60^th minute and added an insurance goal on a penalty kick in the 74^th to really take control.
 
"I thought we started the second half pretty well," Boyd said. "Then we gave up a goal on a mess of stuff in the box where it went to an open player. But at 2-1, we were still in it. The PK was a gut shot. That's us still learning harsh lessons. At 2-1 in the second half, we are fighting for it and it becomes a 3-1 game and that's a tough one to take at that point. To our credit, the team kept battling and we found one late and got a second goal. "
 
The visitors tallied again in the 78^th minute but the Panthers kept at it, with Kayla Rollins scoring her second of the season in the closing minutes.
 
Milwaukee has continued the incredibly tough stretch of the schedule, as the team has now dropped games to opponents with a combined record of 30-7-6 (.767 winning percentage) on the season.
 
"We are 1-6, but then you look at it … Xavier Top 25; Ohio State Top 25; Harvard is a Top 25 team – they are undefeated and they had only given up one goal heading into us. Wisconsin is pushing the Top 25; Minnesota is undefeated. Those are five of the six teams we have lost to, so we are battle-tested at this point. We are facing really good opponents and we are having to learn, and we are having to learn hard lessons. As a whole, we keep getting better every game and that is the important piece."
 
Milwaukee came out aggressive from the start and had good early pressure, with only an impressive save keeping Molly O'Regan from a ninth-minute goal following picture-perfect passes from Lola Wojcik and Kristina Karlof.
 
Parker Donahugh then came through with a spectacular save of her own in the 28^th minute to keep it at 0-0 in front of the Higgins' opener.
 
For the game, the visitors earned advantages of 20-14 in shots, but just a 9-8 edge in shots on goal. They also had seven of the 11 corner kicks and were whistled for 12 of the 20 fouls. Josefine Hasbo led the Crimson off the bench with a pair of goals, while Higgins paced the MKE offense with her goal and a team-high four shot attempts. Donahugh finished with five saves on the night.
 
Up next, the team heads across town Sunday, set to battle Marquette at Valley Fields in a game scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m.