MILWAUKEE – Carson Pridie finished the day with a career-high 10 saves – including several of the spectacular variety – to help the Milwaukee men's soccer team finish off a 0-0 draw against Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday afternoon from Engelmann Stadium.
"It's been our strength, team defense, and the guys showed up again as far as that went," head coach
Kris Kelderman said. "Purdue Fort Wayne is a good, sharp, technical team. They created some good opportunities. They've got good energy and they're a tough team to play against. We had our hands full today. Give them credit, they were pretty sharp on the ball today."
The Panthers (5-4-6, 3-1-4 Horizon League) continued their recent strong defensive stretch against the Mastodons (5-4-3, 3-2-3 Horizon League), with Pridie posting his seventh clean sheet of the campaign, as well as his fourth over his past five outings.
"You know, we take the point," Kelderman said. "We were hoping for three, but we take the point. We're still in the hunt as far as postseason play goes, and we look forward to the next two games."
Pridie, who started the week as the NCAA leader in save percentage, upped that to .905 with the career-best effort, topping his previous best of eight saves made earlier this fall. The 10 saves marked the most for an MKE goalkeeper since Gijs Van Schouten recorded 12 against UIC back on September 11, 2021.
Pridie made five first-half stops, including one right at the horn to get the team to the locker room at 0-0 at the break. He started the day strong, punching out a would-be goal off a PFW corner kick just in front of a diving stop, both in the fifth minute.
Milwaukee's two best chances came in the second half, starting in the 49
th on a nice-looking buildup from
Praise Ogwu and
Hur Irizar Lekue, leaving
Roy Nozawa with a shot from the left wing. A one-armed save kept the match scoreless.
"I do think we created some chances," Kelderman said. "We had a couple chances of our own, and it was one of those games where it's like both teams are waiting to see who can capitalize on an error from the other team. And it was one of those games where neither team could really jump on their opportunity."
In the 73
rd, it was Irizar Lekue again, dribbling through numerous defenders only to see his near-goal kept pushed wide on a shoestring save.
Pridie closed out the shutout with two impressive saves, making a well-positioned stop on a 20-yard free kick in the 78
th as well as a great diving save in the 85
th to help MKE pick up the point in the standings.
For the day, the Dons posted advantages of 22-12 in total shots and 10-5 in shots on goal. The Panthers did earn five of the nine corner kicks in a match that featured 35 total fouls (19-16 MKE) as well as eight yellow cards.
Jack Bretzmann paced the Panthers with four of the 12 shots taken.
Up next, the Panthers will hit the road for their final game away from Engelmann Stadium this regular season, traveling to take on Detroit Mercy Oct. 30. Game time against the Titans is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
