MILWAUKEE – An early goal from Lainey Higgins helped set the tone but the Milwaukee women's soccer team was unable to find an equalizer after falling behind late in dropping a tough matchup to Wisconsin, 2-1, Thursday night at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers played a strong second half and pushed for a second goal late, seeing the Badgers need to fend off four corner kicks and four shot attempts over the final eight-plus minutes of regulation to escape with the victory after they scored in the 79^th minute to edge ahead.
 
"I thought it was a great game," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "I told the team that there are going to be times that we may lose a game that we play really well in, and we give it everything we have, and those ones you have to let go. And this was one of them."
 
UW, which came into the night ranked No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches North Region Poll and receiving votes in the national poll up until this week, came out strong but the MKE defense was up to the task.
 
"We played well," Boyd said. "Are there things we can do better? Absolutely. We are still learning that we need to be better on the ball and play more with our skill that we truly have, but I can't complain about any of the work rate, the battle, the grit – all of the stuff that makes us 'us', is showing up now. And it has shown up three games in a row. We are also playing really good teams. And this is a good team we played."
 
Parker Donahugh made a pair of tough stops in the early going before Higgins put the home side on the scoreboard. She started the play from beyond the midfield line, playing a ball up to Lola Wojcik. Wojcik then played a beautiful back-heel pass back to Higgins to spring her down the right sideline. Four touches later she blasted one to the far post, sneaking in for her third goal of the season at the 10:16 mark.
 
The Badgers did finally break through for their first goal, netting a strike off a corner kick in the 25^th minute. The game went to the break at 1-1 despite the visitors with heavy advantage of 10-1 in shots, 5-1 in shots on goal, 6-1 in corner kicks, and 63 percent of possession.
 
The second half was a complete turnaround, seeing the MKE offense finish with advantages of 7-5 in shots and 6-3 in corners. The team had a few good looks to jump ahead, including the 65^th minute when only a perfectly-executed slide tackle in the box prevented an open look by Lydia Herald from getting to the keeper after running on to a well-placed lead pass from Kayla Rollins.
 
"We talked at halftime about bringing more quality," Boyd said. "We have more than we showed even in the second half – there is still more to us. Overall, I am happy with what we did … this is way better than where we were two weeks ago."
 
UW found the go-ahead score in the 79^th minute, yet Milwaukee nearly tied it just 56 seconds later when Higgins had a good look on a drop-off pass from Rollins but sent it just over the crossbar.
 
The final push resulted in a lot of pressure and half-chances for the MKE offense, but the Badgers were up to the task to pull out the well-earned decision.
 
For the game, UW finished with the 15-8 advantage in shots, 7-2 shots on goal, and 9-7 edge in corners. Just seven fouls were whistled on the night, four on the home side. Higgins paced MKE with three shot attempts. In goal, Donahugh was credited with five saves.
 
The Panthers remain at home next, hosting Harvard in a week on Thursday. Game time against the Crimson is set for 7 p.m.