MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's soccer team overcame playing down a player due to a red card and still pulled out an impressive 2-1 victory over Northern Kentucky on "Senior Night" Friday evening at Engelmann Stadium.
 
"Very proud of the guys," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "You know it's nice to have a lead going into a situation where you are a man down. We came out in the second half with our backs against the wall for a little bit and the guys knew it."
 
The Panthers (4-6-7, 3-1-4 Horizon League) led the Norse (4-9-3, 2-4-2 Horizon League) 1-0 at the break and, despite playing with just 10 on the field, built a 2-0 lead in the 55^th minute. Behind a stellar performance from the team defense and eight saves from goalkeeper Nic Diana, the squad secured the big victory in a wild race down the stretch in the Horizon League standings with just one game to go.
 
"We had a defensive posture [to start the second], but I still thought we could do some things offensively – and we did, right from the start of the second half," Kelderman said. "Bretzmann scored a nice goal to give us a cushion, but it was a really good defensive effort by everybody. The goalkeeping was fantastic, but the guys in the backline worked pretty hard and it's a lot of work from the midfielders and the forwards on top. I thought the guys handled the situation very well."
 
The first 30 minutes of the game were very back-and-forth, with neither putting much on frame. In fact, the first shot on target for the Panthers came on a header from Bienvenu Djunga off a free kick in the 30^th minute.
 
It was Djunga that helped put the team on the board shortly after that, as his run into the box towards goal saw a foul called on the NKU defense, resulting in Angel Gongora putting the home team ahead 1-0 on a penalty kick at the 41:15 mark for his fifth goal of the season.
 
They almost snuck another before the halftime horn, but Dominic Zuniga's free kick as the clock was almost at zeroes was pushed aside with a diving save.
 
The red card occurred in the 44^th minute, but the team found a way to keep up the pressure into the second half, resulting in a second goal in the 55^th minute. It was Gongora again, chipping a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that banged off the crossbar. Jack Bretzmann was waiting to pounce, rifling in the rebound to double the advantage at the 54:12 mark with his third of the campaign.
 
"It was good to see us still play a little bit," Kelderman said. "It's easy to get into a defensive mindset when you are down a man and just kick the ball out … kick the ball out, and defend and defend. But that was too long to just keep doing that. We created some chances. I thought the chances that we had, we could have made it a little easier for ourselves. The guys rose to the occasion and did what they had to do, and we are still in a good place going into our last game of the season."
 
The Norse finally broke through, finding the back of the net to make it 2-1, but made it a new game of 10-on-10 with a red card of its own in the 69^th minute.
 
The second half showcased the defense, with Diana making perhaps his best stop of the night when he punched a long-range shot over the cross bar in the 68^th minute.
 
"I thought he was excellent … and he's been excellent for us pretty much all season long," Kelderman said of Diana. "In those situations, you need your goalkeeper to come up big. Whether it's making some big saves or managing the game at the time – he's one of our captains and he stepped up. We needed an outstanding performance from him – especially in the second half given the circumstances – and he led us to the victory."
 
The MKE offense had some chances down the stretch but was unable to convert. It was still enough as the team closed out the 2-1 victory to improve to 3-1-4 at home this season.

For the game, the visitors recorded advantages of 23-18 in total shots and 9-5 in shots on goal, while also earning a 2-1 edge in corner kicks. Bretzmann led the MKE offense with a season-best six shot attempts.
 
Up next, the team will play one final regular season game at home, still looking to improve its positioning in the final conference standings race. The team currently sits in third place with 13 points but is just one point out of second.
 
The Panthers welcome Detroit Mercy Tuesday, set for a matinee kickoff of 1 p.m. from Engelmann Stadium.