MILWAUKEE – In a season keyed by the defense, the Milwaukee men's soccer team put up a valiant effort Wednesday afternoon but came up just short by a final score of 1-0 in falling to Cleveland State at Engelmann Stadium in Horizon League Tournament semifinal action.
"We didn't get the result that we wanted," head coach
Kris Kelderman said. "We wanted to go a little bit further. But, you know, they did what we asked for. And that's just give everything you got. Control the things you can control. And that's your approach, your work rate, your ethic, and being a good teammate. And the guys did what they could."
The Panthers (7-5-6), fresh off their first regular-season Horizon League crown since 2004, were bumped out of the postseason when the Vikings (8-6-4) got the only goal of the day from Horizon League Player of the Year Tom Mertz in the 59
th minute.
"Give Cleveland State a lot of credit," Kelderman said. "They might have been the lowest seed, but they're not the lowest seed in our league as far as talent and this and that. There's so much parity in our league. We knew we'd have our hands full. Cleveland State is always good. Very technical, very sharp team, which really is hard to go against when a team like that has a lead because they can knock the ball around. And if they're sharp on the ball, there's not a whole lot of turnovers. And then it gets you working more than you want defensively. And then when you finally win the ball, you're a bit gassed."
In a match that featured two strong defenses – MKE's came into the day ranked No. 7 in the NCAA – the scoreboard read 0-0 at the break despite 17 total shot attempts combined from the two squads.
Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year
Carson Pridie was up to the task in the first half, making several impressive one-armed saves among his five first-half stops.
Milwaukee's best early chance in the second half came on a break, seeing
Hur Irizar Lekue break free for a chance on goal in the 54
th minute. His volley attempt went inches wide of the left post to keep the scoreboard at 0-0.
Pridie was able to corral the next CSU shot in the 55
th but Mertz was on point on the next Vikings shot. He turned and volleyed in one motion, hitting the upper 90 of the far post to make it 1-0 at the 58:05 mark.
From there it was back-and-forth, with Cleveland State getting more shots than Milwaukee but the defense up to the task.
The best MKE chance down the stretch came from
Ollie Weir, who saw his attempt punched just over the bar in the 89
th minute, spoiling hopes of a late equalizer as CSU was able to kill the rest of the game and secure its spot in the title game Saturday.
"Kudos to Cleveland State. They made it very difficult for us today," Kelderman said. "But the nice thing is we were in the match. We needed to produce a little bit more offensively. But they capitalized on one more play than we did today at the end of the day. That was the difference."
On the afternoon, the visitors recorded advantages of 23-14 in shots, although just 8-6 in shots on goal, while also grabbing the 8-6 edge in corner kicks.
Felix Huwiler and Irizar Lekue led MKE with three shots apiece. Pridie finished with seven saves in the hard-luck loss.
"Yeah, it's fun to see," Kelderman said. "You've got the Freshman of the Year (Dominic Ruggiero) and Player of the Year (Tom Mertz) with Cleveland State, going against Defender of the Year (
Jack Wagner) and Goalkeeper of the Year (
Carson Pridie) on our side. It was fun to watch. It was a good soccer game today for both squads. And we just needed one more play."
The Panthers conclude the season with a record of 7-5-6, claiming the regular-season title for the first time since 2004, with Kelderman named Horizon League Coach of the Year as well.
"The team had to really dig down deep and accept a little bit more defensive style this year," Kelderman said. "And that's tough to do when you're throwing that at a lot of attacking players. But the team bought in, and we found a way that worked for us this season. And it took a lot of work. Defending is not as fun as attacking. But we did what we had to do to achieve a lot of success this year, and so the guys have a lot to be proud of … it was a great season overall."
