INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Nic Diana made a career-high eight saves and Bienvenu Djunga scored an early goal to lead the Milwaukee men's soccer team to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over IU Indy Saturday evening at Michael A. Carroll Stadium.
 
"Just a fantastic defensive effort by our team," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "We hung in there. This is our third shutout in a row and couldn't be more pleased with our team's defense in the last number of matches."
 
The Panthers (2-2-4, 1-0-1 Horizon League) were decidedly outshot by the Jaguars (4-3-2, 1-1-0 Horizon League), but Diana made Djunga's second goal of the season stand up with a brilliant performance in net – making stop after stop to record his third clean sheet of the campaign and help MKE move to 4-0-3 over the past seven in the series against today's opponent.
 
"Again, very promising defensive effort by the guys," Kelderman said. "A tie and a win through the first two games in the conference and an excellent road win today. It's never easy to play on the road in Horizon League soccer but that was a very exciting three points for our group today."
 
The start of the game was delayed over 50 minutes due to lightning in the area, yet the MKE offense wasted little time in converting. On the first corner kick of the day, Djunga ran on to a loose ball at the top of the box and fired in a shot, redirected off a backline defender before sneaking inside the right post at the 7:02 mark.
 
"We are still trying to see if we can provide a few more chances offensively but got a great goal from Bienvenu Djunga today," Kelderman said. "We have been challenged with finishing recently but got a great goal today."
 
Chances were few and far between the rest of the half for the visitors, as Diana made the lead hold up with five first-half saves as the Jags piled up a 13-2 shot differential by the midway point.
 
He made a pair of brilliant stops in the 14^th minute when a thru ball created a 1-on-1 opportunity, stopping the first before scrambling back to corral the second after the rebound was sent back in.
 
He came up big in the 22^nd minute with a diving stop and gloved a well-struck header off a Jags corner kick in the 24^th minute as well.
 
Diana kept the show rolling into the second half, containing a redirected shot in the box in the 49^th minute before any more trouble would arise.
 
The Panthers continued to look to add, but quality chances were not abundant. Fernando Pirry forced a low save in the 51^st minute and, on the next possession, Milwaukee had a great look to double the advantage. On a ball into the box from Mitch Goodman, Jack Bretzmann's header looked to be tracking inside the left post, only to see the IU Indy keeper make a full-out diving save to knock it wide and only concede the corner kick.
 
Diana then closed out his third consecutive scoreless appearance in style, making a diving stop at the post in the 89^th minute, before flying off his line to secure a final long deep kick during the closing seconds and keep his goals-against average at a perfect 0.00 through the first two HL matches.
 
For the match, the home side finished with commanding advantages of 23-7 in total shots, 8-4 in shots on goal, and 7-3 in corner kicks. Yet, the only number that mattered was the 'one' on the scoreboard, as the Panthers remained unbeaten in conference contests at 1-0-1 on the young season. Pirry and Bretzmann paced the offense with two shots apiece.
 
Up next, the Panthers return home for one of the more anticipated dates of the season, hosting Marquette for the "Milwaukee Cup" Sept. 23. Game time against the Golden Eagles is set for 7 p.m.
 
"We look forward to playing for the 'Milwaukee Cup' against Marquette on Tuesday at home, where we have been undefeated for quite a while," Kelderman said, "So, looking to keep it going and see if we can carry on here."