HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Milwaukee women's soccer team opened Horizon League play in style, putting together strong performances on both sides of the ball in handing Northern Kentucky a 2-0 defeat Thursday night at Scudamore Field.
 
The Panthers (2-6-1, 1-0 Horizon League) dominated the Norse (3-6, 0-1 Horizon League) from the opening whistle. The MKE offense finished the contest with advantages of 24-9 in shots, 7-3 in shots on goal, 13-2 in corners, while also concluding the victory with 60 percent of possession on the day.
 
Second-half goals by Lainey Higgins and Molly O'Regan and a three-save shutout from Parker Donahugh allowed the team to open defense of its past three straight regular-season titles with the 2-0 clean sheet.
 
"We are very happy about starting out the conference right and getting the win on the road," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "Three points … it wasn't easy – we left it until late but Lainey came to our rescue with the first one. It was an unbelievable pass from Kristina (Karlof) into her and then Lainey, so composed, finding a way to put that ball away. And considering they had a player specific just to mark her the entire time and follow around the field, she had added challenges. And then we got a goal off a corner which is something we've been talking about trying to find."
 
Despite spending the entire first half on the front foot, the game remained deadlocked at intermission. It wasn't for lack of quality chances, as the MKE offense was in strong form from the start.
 
"I thought we kept the ball fairly well," Boyd said of the match. "There were a couple moments when we let them have too much of it. But as a whole, I thought we defended well; I thought we kept the ball well. We certainly were doing a great job getting to goal. In the first half, one of the things I talked to us about [at halftime] was getting our shots on frame (just 2-of-11 MKE shots were on goal). We've got to do a little bit better than that in terms of quality when we get our chances. But two goals in the second half and the shutout – we're very happy with that and now we're on the recovery road and starting to get ready for Sunday."
 
Kayla Rollins came close in the fourth minute, sending a great ball into the box from Senya Meurer just wide and into the side netting.
 
In the 37^th minute, Jenni Andjelic had the NKU keeper beat, only to see a backline defender clear the ball off the line. Meurer's follow-up with also saved.
 
The team finally broke through on its 17^th shot of the night, started by Ellie Rebmann taking a ball out of the back. She carried it all the way to near midfield before finding Kristina Karlof. Three touches later, Karlof sent a ball through the back line and Higgins did the rest, scoring her fifth of the season at the 59:07 mark off her first touch.
 
Just four minutes later the team doubled the lead when O'Regan slammed in Meurer's corner kick, sending her header off the post and into the back of the net to make it 2-0 at the 63:10 mark.
 
The offense kept up the pressure the rest of the way, nearly adding a third goal in the 81^st minute. Ashlyn Skinner-Barrett had the look, beating the keeper – only to see it go off the post, off the goalie's back, and then across the endline for another Panther corner.
 
Donahugh was up to the task when called upon, finishing with those three saves for her first shutout of the season. Andjelic and Lola Wojcik paced the offense with four shot attempts apiece.
 
Up next, the team remains on the road to travel to Wright State Sunday, set for a 12 p.m. CT kickoff.