MILWAUKEE – A pair of goals just before halftime proved enough to help nationally-ranked Wisconsin get past the Milwaukee women's soccer team by a final score of 2-0 Thursday night at Engelmann Stadium.
In front of the second largest crowd (1,421) in program history, the Panthers (1-4-1) played the Badgers (3-1-1) to a standstill in the second half but could not find a way to make the final score closer as the night wore on against the 16
th-ranked team in the country.
"The second half was tremendous," head coach
Kevin Boyd said. "The way that we came out, the way we put them under pressure, the way we were trying to get at their goal, I mean, that looked like us finally. And us against a top team, this team's good. They're No. 16 for a reason. I thought we played exceptionally well. I mean, it was three shots to three (in the second half), but it was three corners for us to zero for them. We were the aggressor the whole second half. That's the way we want to play."
It was Milwaukee that nearly struck first, when a goal kick was played forward by
Natalie Zodrow, giving
Leah Brock a chance at a breakaway. She beat the last defender to the ball and had the goalie beat, but the angle was tough and the ball went off the side post and out just 5:21 into the evening.
"I loved what we did for, I would say out of the 90 minutes … the entire second half, and 38 minutes of the first half," Boyd said. "And I actually thought it was 30 minutes because I thought they got after us for the last 15. But I really loved what we were doing. We were playing hard."
Scoreless until the 39
th minute – thanks to a brilliant save from
Lauren Nidey in the 31
st – UW found a flurry in front to finally break through. A shot from the left wing went off the crossbar and a follow-up was saved at the post by the defense. The loose ball was corralled and sent in, headed just inside the post to make it 1-0 at the 38:40 mark.
From there, the Badgers again were opportunistic, blasting a loose ball from distance to tack on a big insurance goal at the 42:57 mark.
Milwaukee put together a very solid second half, with each team recording three shots and MKE having all three of the corner kicks that were awarded.
The team had a handful of decent looks to get back into the game, including a shot from
Emily Petring in the 65
th minute, as well as an impressive save from UW's Drew Stover keeping
Ashlyn Skinner-Barrett out of the back of the net in the 87
th minute.
On the day, the visitors did wind up with advantages of 14-6 in shots (9-3 shots on goal), but the Panthers had four of the five corner kicks and did squeak out the possession battle at 51-49 in their favor. Skinner-Barrett and Petring led the way with two shots apiece, while Nidey finished with six saves on the night.
"Leah had that look early on in the first half that she put off the post," Boyd said. "But, you know, really good chance, and that would have put us up 1-0. That changes the game completely. But, it just didn't happen. But, again, I liked what we did. Right now, we're at a point that I think our starting 11, for the most part, are playing well. We are now about our depth, and we're about our attack. I thought we were ready to move into that next phase of the season. We're now in it, for sure. So, we just need to clean up a couple little things technically, and then we just need more players stepping up."
The 1,421 in attendance were able to enjoy the break in the rain that started the day, as well as the "Panther Welcome Tailgate" pregame, with only the program record of 2,212 against Marquette in September of 2011 ahead of the total on the all-time list.
That wraps up a very challenging start to the 2026 season where the Panthers have played three nationally-ranked opponents as well as a fourth that was just outside of the poll receiving votes. The team has continued to show improvement every match.
"There are a couple pieces to that that are important to me," Boyd said. "That we show growth, and growth for us is in a few different areas. One is tactically how we're trying to play, and the second one, though, is all mental. It's all psychological. It's what kind of battle do we have? Like, what does our discipline look like? Who are we in terms of defining our characteristics on the field? That is a really important piece, and that's what I like tonight is we're starting to look like us. I felt like we looked like us against Marquette, but weren't dangerous enough in the attack. We were far more dangerous tonight in the attack, which is a positive sign. That's growth from a week ago. And I also thought that from defining our characteristics, some of the work rate pieces and the grit and the character that we've always had are starting to come out."
Up next, the Panthers remain at home and welcome Valparaiso Sunday, set for a kickoff of 1 p.m.
