MILWAUKEE – Praise Ogwu sent in the game-winning goal at the 89:59 mark to send the Milwaukee men's soccer team to a thrilling 1-0 buzzer-beating victory over Bowling Green Tuesday night at Engelmann Stadium.
The Panthers (3-3-2) played to the final whistle, with Ogwu volleying in
AJ Wild's header that was cleared off the line to top the Falcons (1-5-1) just ahead of the final horn.
"What a thriller," head coach
Kris Kelderman said. "We talk about the importance of how every play matters, every second matters, and boy, ain't that the truth."
The winner was the latest in a game for a Milwaukee team since Pol Narbona accomplished the same feat in a 3-2 victory over what was then IUPUI in August of 2012.
Not to be lost in the excitement of the finish was another stellar performance by the defense, led by a career-best eight saves from goalkeeper
Carson Pridie, who recorded his second consecutive clean sheet.
"It's another shutout, and defensively, that's been the strength of our team," Kelderman said. "Very pleased with the team's defense throughout the season, and we're still trying to score a few more goals in a game, but at the end of the day, if it means that all it takes is one to win a game, then that's what we've got to do."
At the break, BGSU led the shot count, 10-6, and had nearly 60 percent of possession despite going to the break 0-0. The Milwaukee offense was much better in the second, flipping the script, 10-6, in its favor.
"I thought we came out much better in the second half, right from the start," Kelderman said. "I was very pleased with our performance in the second half. Defensively, our possession improved. The energy picked up a little bit as well. Not that the energy was poor in the first half, but in order to keep the ball and possess it, people have got to move more off the ball. So, it takes energy, and the guys came through with that against a pretty good Bowling Green team."
Pridie had five first-half saves, including a thriller where he charged off the line and saved a ball that had breakaway potential in the 14
th minute. He opened the second half with another impressive stop, sending away a rocket shot in traffic from the top of the 18 in the 45
th minute.
The offense finished with 16 shots overall, but it was Wild that wrapped up the evening with the two most dangerous tries – both resulting in BGSU team saves to keep the ball out of the net.
His ball whipped in from the endline was headed in just under the crossbar in the 59
th minute before a backline defender cleared it away. He also set up the buzzer-beating winner.
After a 50-50 ball was punched away by the goalie, Wild headed the first touch to himself before sending the second touch to the far post. A leaping header saved the would-be goal but fell right to Ogwu, who one-timed it into the back of the net to start off the celebration.
On the night, shots ended up even at 16-16 (8-7 visitors in shots on goal), while the Falcons also finished with nine of the 10 corner kicks.
Hur Irizar Lekue led the Panthers with four shots.
"I thought we had a nice balance in our attack, specifically the second half, where we had some nice combination play," Kelderman said. "We keep talking about it, and we're working on it. We can improve our quality in front of the goal, and score a couple goals, and take some pressure off, then we are a much more complete team."
Up next, it's back to league play for the Panthers, who head to Northern Illinois Saturday for the annual "LeWang Cup" matchup. The yearly traditional contest will now be a conference matchup with NIU joining the Horizon League this year. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
