MILWAUKEE – Four goals in the second half – including three in a span of less than eight minutes – broke open a 1-1 game to send the Milwaukee women's soccer team to a 5-1 victory over Robert Morris Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
The Panthers (10-4-2, 8-0-0 Horizon League) took the lead on a goal from
Natalie Zodrow in the 62
nd minute and then kept their foot on the gas against the Colonials (5-7-3, 2-4-2), cruising to the big victory on "Senior Day" for the program.
Milwaukee remains perfect in league play this fall at 8-0 with the decision. In addition, the beat goes on for the longest active streak of its kind in the nation, as the program is now unbeaten in 47 consecutive (39-0-8) regular-season Horizon League matches, dating back to 2022.
The Panthers also remain perfect all-time against RMU, moving to 11-0-0 in the series, outscoring the Colonials 44-3 in the matchup.
"We knew Robert Morris is a good team, so we were prepared for that coming in," head coach
Kevin Boyd said. "And then we had this [heavy wind Sunday] … this has been like an elements weekend. Thursday night it rained and then poured down rain in the second half. And today it's just wind and the wind was a factor."
The day nearly started quickly for the MKE offense, with
Emily Petring finding
Ashlyn Skinner-Barrett for a good look in the second minute, but a quality save was made.
Despite outshooting the visitors, 12-2, in the opening period, Milwaukee had what looked like a 1-0 lead at the break on the strength of a
Kiersten White penalty kick in the 34
th minute. However, Robert Morris found a late equalizer, tying the game at 1-1 just 59 seconds from intermission.
"I thought we did an exceptional job really playing into the wind in the first half, not giving up much," Boyd said. "And then we gave up a really soft goal late. That is just poor box management on our part. But for the most part, we played well. And the ideas we had going to goal were great."
The second half was all Milwaukee. It nearly started in the 56
th, when
Maya Wilson just missed a header off a perfect pass from Skinner-Barrett.
"I knew going into the second half when we'd have the wind, it was going to cause them problems," Boyd said. "And with the attack that we were going, as long as we continued that and stayed aggressive, that we would put them under a lot of pressure. And we did. Two corner kick goals, two PKs, one set piece goal. Five goals out of set pieces. And this is great because we talk about sets a lot and work on them a lot."
Zodrow then started the fireworks, heading in a corner kick from
Denise Camarena at the 61:11 mark that was initially popped in the air by the defense.
Ashlyn Derosier made it 2-1 in the 65
th, placing a 30-yard free kick perfectly to the far post. It snuck through traffic in front for her second of the season.
Taylor Richards was next, and the goal again came off a set piece. Another Camarena corner kick was headed on goal by Skinner-Barrett. The initial save was made, but Richards was there to pounce on the rebound and slot it home for the 4-1 advantage at the 69:17 mark.
Sadbh Griffin then closed out the scoring, converting her PK in the 73
rd minute after she was fouled in the box.
"It's nice to see Nat (Zodrow) get another goal, especially on the corner," Boyd said. "It's nice to see Ro (Derosier) get in there. And then we've been taking PKs, obviously, because we've had some challenges with them this season. To have two separate people put their PKs away is great for us today.
The Panthers finished the afternoon with season-bests in shot attempts as well as shots on goal. The totals ended up 28-6 in shots, 17-5 in shots on goal, and 10-0 in corner kicks. The team also would up with 62 percent possession on the afternoon. Skinner-Barrett led the way with five shot attempts. In net,
Lauren Nidey wrapped up her effort with four saves to record the victory.
The team honored the following seniors in a pregame ceremony: #2
Payton Green, #5
Olivia Bohl, #8
Denise Camarena, #9
Maya Wilson, #11
Ashlyn Skinner-Barrett, #12
Emily Petring, and #20
Kennedy Floyd.
"Senior days are emotional, and you don't want to leave your game in the emotions in the locker room," Boyd said. "So, you need to bring it out and put it all into the game. And this is the way you want your senior day to go, where you get a lot of goals and you can bring people into the game that haven't gotten as much time. And we got to close out the game with a lot of people getting minutes that really deserve to get minutes just based on what they contribute to our training environment and helping us be better."
The final road trip of the regular season is up next, seeing Milwaukee head out to Purdue Fort Wayne Oct. 22 before taking on Cleveland State Oct. 25. Game time Thursday against the Mastodons is scheduled for 12 p.m.
