CHICAGO, Ill. – Felix Huwiler scored a brilliant goal in the 73
rd minute and the Milwaukee men's soccer team ended up playing Loyola Chicago to a 1-1 draw after a late goal forced the tie from Loyola Soccer Park Thursday evening.
The Panthers (1-0-2) put together a solid team defensive effort against the Ramblers (2-0-1), taking on their former Horizon League foe for the first time in 12 seasons.
Goalkeeper
Filip Dostanic was credited with three saves, including a spectacular stop in the 60
th minute that kept the contest 0-0 at the time.
"Very pleased with the performance and the fight that the guys brought to the game this evening," head coach
Kris Kelderman said. "We played against a good Loyola team that's off to a really good start. They've beaten two Horizon League teams already and it shows that we can compete with these guys and came close to winning tonight. We had a 1-0 lead, and we were very excited about it and gave up an unfortunate goal on restart late in the game."
The MKE defense took it to the break scoreless after some strong blocks from
Jack Wagner in the closing minutes of the first. In the second, it was Dostanic that came up huge with a sprawling save at the 59:05 mark – the play of the game at the time – before adding another at the 60:14 mark.
"I thought the guys worked extremely hard," Kelderman said. "Loyola is a fast-paced, hard-fighting team. I told the guys that we have to accept that there's moments in the game against a team like that where you just got to roll up your sleeves and fight. I thought it was a good balanced game for our guys. There were moments where we played some really good soccer; created some chances."
The offense came out with a strong start in the second as well, with
Ben Bausch nearly opening the scoring in the 48
th minute, needing a brilliant LUC save to keep it out of the net.
Dominic Zuniga was at it again later for the Panthers, finding Huwiler with a perfect pass that threaded the needle from one side of the field to the other. Huwiler stopped the pass with his right foot and shot in one motion with his left, sending the ball off the right post and in at the 72:47 mark.
The Ramblers did find a way to take a little shine off the final result, taking advantage of back-to-back corner kicks to find their goal in the 84
th minute. Dostanic then stood tall as the game closed, punching out a final corner kick in the closing seconds that Bausch then cleared out of danger as time expired.
"At the same time, the group played really well defensively," Kelderman said. "And that starts with the work rate up front from our forwards being our first line of defense. But more specifically, I really though the back line was excellent …
AJ Wild, right in front of them, had an excellent game. Outside backs
Mitch Goodman,
Breon Jarvis,
Jack Wagner. They really limited their chances and allowed our attacking corps of guys to get forward and try to catch them in transition. Overall, very pleasing result, considering it was against a very good team on the road. And I feel like the group is excited. You know, we're getting better every day, every game and that's ultimately the goal is to get better and see how far we can carry this."
For the match, the Ramblers held the 14-8 advantage in shots and had nine of the 11 corner kicks on the evening. Huwiler had the goal and Zuniga picked up his league-leading fourth assist of the young season – and has assisted each of the four Panther goals scored so far this season.
The Panthers remain on the road next, taking on Drake Wednesday. Game time against the Bulldogs is set for 7:30 p.m.
