MILWAUKEE – Praise Ogwu scored just 30 seconds into the second half to help the Milwaukee men's soccer team break a 1-1 tie and take control in a game in which it went on to claim a 3-1 victory over Chicago State Monday afternoon from Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (1-0-1) improved to 3-1-0 in the all-time series with the Cougars (0-2-0), in a game that was originally set to be played in Chicago but was moved to a home game for Milwaukee late Sunday due to availability of officials.
 
"The energy was really good," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "As I told the guys too, this was a really good group effort. The reserves that came into the game helped us. The guys on the bench – the energy, the enthusiasm – it was just very pleasing to see. This is a group of new guys, and the majority of our younger guys are really coming together as a group. And being good teammates. That's where success starts, is that everybody's there for each other and I feel like today we were there. And it's something that we've been focused on, and I think that had something to do with it."
 
The Cougars actually struck first, taking advantage of a fluke bounce off a deflection at the top of the 18-yard box. Alexander Mutalibov chipped in the loose ball to give the visitors a 1-0 lead just 7:36 into the day.
 
"We coughed up a goal on a pretty bad mishap on our behalf, early in the game," Kelderman said. "But it's easy for a younger group to kind of panic a little bit, but the guys kept their cool very well; kept their composure. I thought we proceeded to play really, really good soccer – not only for the rest of the half, but for the rest of the game."
 
The MKE defense dug in and pressed on, holding Chicago State without any other shot attempts besides the one it scored on in the opening 45 minutes. The game was then back to even at 1-1 in the 23^rd minute, when AJ Wild scored on a header off a corner kick from Dominic Zuniga.
 
It was a sign of things to come for Zuniga, who ended up assisting all three goals the Panthers scored on the afternoon. The three-assist performance ties for the fifth-most in a game in program history, most recently accomplished in 2024.
 
Tied 1-1 at the break, Milwaukee came storming out of the locker room and quickly took the lead, getting Ogwu's goal off the opening kickoff to make it 2-1 at the 45:30 mark.
 
The Panthers offense put together a strong performance overall, finishing the match with advantages of 19-5 in total shots, 7-2 in shots on goal, as well as 7-2 in corner kicks. In addition, the team finished with 66 percent overall possession. AJ Wild and Riley Stevens led the offense with four shots apiece, while Filip Dostanic was credited with one save in picking up the victory.
 
"I thought we had a really good floor game," Kelderman said, "The ball movement was very good, something we've been trying to talk about and focus on. We created a lot of chances. Our wide play was very good … beating people on the flanks and running some services. I felt we were pretty strong and gave ourselves opportunities from restarts which is another focus of ours at this time."
 
Ben Bausch netted the first goal of his collegiate career to wrap up the scoring, finishing off a Zuniga pass in the 50^th minute.
 
"We had really good energy, created a lot of opportunities and, and it was from a good number of people," Kelderman said. "It wasn't just a couple guys that had standout performances today. It was across the board. We put up some really nice goals. In all honesty, should have had more than three goals, but hey, we got three goals. That's more than we've had in preseason and up until this point, so that was promising. We created a lot of good opportunities, so the guys are a bit excited and should be, and we look forward to our game on Thursday at Loyola."
 
Up next, the team heads to Chicago Thursday to take on the Ramblers, set for a kickoff of 7 p.m.