MILWAUKEE – Lauren Nidey made six saves to record her second shutout of the season and the Milwaukee women's soccer team outshot Marquette but had to settle for a 0-0 draw Thursday evening at Valley Fields.
The Panthers (1-3-1) had advantages over the Golden Eagles (3-0-2) of 11-10 in total shots and 7-5 in corner kicks and had a chance at a late winner get stopped with a tough save as the city rivals played to a scoreless affair.
"The good news is we got a shutout … the bad news is we didn't score a goal," head coach
Kevin Boyd said. "I am honest when I say, I think the tie was a fair result. I think both teams battled and it was really even end to end. It was an exciting 0-0 game, which sometimes people don't think soccer can be exciting at 0-0 but it was really good."
Marquette had the slightly better run of play in the first half with shots at 5-3, but the MKE defense held tight and got it to the break at zeroes.
The Panthers then came out the aggressor in the second half, taking control of the pace and putting things together on the offensive side.
Ashlyn Derosier came close to putting the Panthers on the board in the 49
th minute, forcing a toughs save, and had another attempt just minutes later. The team kept up the pressure, seeing
Emily Petring send one just over the crossbar in the 55
th minute.
"It's the first time that I feel like we have looked like 'us' this fall and feel like, okay, this is a Milwaukee team," Boyd said. "So, the pieces are starting to come together, which we sure were hoping it would. We just started getting the characteristics and the ideas of play that kind of mark who we are. So it's a really good sign for us – quite happy with the way we performed tonight. We got very good performances out of multiple players, and we are moving in the right direction."
The final minutes provided plenty of drama, as Nidey came up big time after time. She made saves at the 78:00 and 79:52 marks and stopped another strong Golden Eagle effort in the 85
th minute.
The Panthers had one final good look at a possible winner, with
Leah Brock getting loose at the top of the box and firing one on frame. Her shot looked to sneak in at the post but was stopped at the line. Marquette then had one last breakaway opportunity in the closing seconds, but
Emily Urban won the footrace and cleared the ball out of danger as the final seconds of regulation ticked away.
For the game, the Panthers finished the day with those 11 shots, led by a team-high four from
Natalie Zodrow. The team also won the possession battle, maintaining 52 percent on the evening.
Up next, the team finally gets to play its first home game of the season Thursday, welcoming No. 22 Wisconsin to Engelmann Stadium. The match will be the third time already this season that the Panthers play a team ranked in the national poll. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and the "Panther Welcome Tailgate" will be a part of the pregame festivities. The contest will also feature a Schedule Poster Giveaway for fans.
