MILWAUKEE – Jack Wagner scored on a bicycle kick in the 79th minute to give the Milwaukee men's soccer team a 2-1 lead only to see Marquette find a way to score twice in a wild finish to escape with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night at Engelmann Stadium.
 
"The 'Milwaukee Cup' is always an exciting game and I think it was an exciting game for the fans to watch," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "Unfortunately, we'd like to be on the other side of the scoreboard at the end of the evening. The positive is, we gave ourselves a chance to get a result tonight. As far as that goes, the guys responded pretty well. The two goals that we scored being down a goal and then getting the lead … the team as a whole is disappointed. We had a lead with 12 minutes left – you'd like to think we could hold on or at least get a tie out of that. Unfortunately, we did not."
 
The Panthers (2-3-4) fell to the Golden Eagles (4-1-2) in the "Milwaukee Cup" matchup in front of a crowd of 1,588 to mark their first loss at home in 14 games – a span of over 22 months dating back to November of 2023.
 
"Give Marquette a lot of credit," Kelderman said. "They are very technical, they are quick, they were good on the counter and as the game went on it got wide open. And I think that suited them a little bit better than us because of their quickness. I thought we were dangerous in spots and created some chances and gave ourselves an opportunity to get a result."
 
The contest turned into a thriller, especially considering it was scoreless battle at halftime. Marquette drew first blood, breaking onto the scoresheet at the 49:18 mark.
 
It stood that way until the 58^th minute before the MKE offense started churning, beginning with Angel Gongora finding Fernando Pirry streaking down the left sideline. Pirry took a few touches and sent the ball back to the far side of the box, where Ryan Berghauer was waiting to pounce. Berghauer sent a laser inside the near post, leveling the game with his first goal of the season at the 57:59 mark.
 
A brilliant goal then gave the Panthers the lead in the 79^th minute, again started by Gongora when his header found Pavle Ivkovic alone in the box. Ivkovic's volley made it past the MU keeper and banged off the crossbar back into play. That was when Wagner pulled off the impressive bicycle kick to give the home side the 2-1 lead at the 78:40 mark.
 
The goal came shortly after Milwaukee suffered a big loss, as both Berghauer and Daiki Kumakawa had to leave the game due to injury in the 63^rd and 66^th minutes.
 
"Not to make any excuses, but we've been dealing with some injuries," Kelderman said. "Losing Ryan Berghauer – an excellent defender who's been playing great and is great at restarts. And then Daiki, both of those guys, it was unfortunate. I think it did hurt us because those are two key factors in our group and it's unfortunate that we couldn't finish the game with them. I would be curious if things would have looked a little different with them in."
 
Looking to hold on, the visitors took advantage, netting goals in the 81^st minute and again just 2:16 later to edge ahead, 3-2.
 
Despite a couple of decent looks, the final horn sounded, and the Golden Eagles were able to pull off the improbable win and maintain possession of the "Milwaukee Cup". The loss was just the second for Milwaukee in the series since 2014, dropping its advantage in the city derby to 31-13-7 all-time.
 
"I feel bad for the guys," Kelderman said. "They fought hard. We played against a good team tonight. It's a big game for everybody: for the fans, for the players, for the coaches, and for the schools. And we were very close to getting our hands on the cup. But in the last 10 minutes we got burned a bit. We just have to learn from it. The team is in a good place, and we look forward to more conference play."
 
For the game, Marquette edged out advantages of 15-13 in total shots, 6-4 in shots on goal, and 8-6 in corner kicks. Berghauer ended up pacing the offense with a career-best five shots. Gongora had a team-best two assists.
 
In goal, Nic Diana was credited with three saves but did see his scoreless streak end at 383:14.
 
Up next, the team returns to Horizon League play on the weekend, traveling to Michigan to take on Oakland Saturday. Game time against the Golden Grizzlies is set for 1 p.m. CT.