MILWAUKEE – St. Thomas took advantage of a fortunate deflection and was in the right place at the right time to score the only goal of the game, handing the Milwaukee men's soccer team a tough-luck 1-0 loss Saturday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
The Tommies (3-1-2) ran their unbeaten streak to five consecutive when they scored in the 52
nd minute against the Panthers (1-2-2), with Lorenzo Jacon finding himself all alone in front when a sideline serve was deflected from the defense right to where he was waiting.
"I feel like the last couple games we're getting burned on maybe a mishap in our own box, or just outside the box," head coach
Kris Kelderman said. "Teams have been capitalizing on it."
The MKE offense generated a shot lead overall (14-12) and won the possession battle (52-48) on the day but were unable to find the equalizer despite a handful of quality chances in the physical (39 total fouls/six cards) matchup.
"At the moment, we're challenged with trying to take some pressure off ourselves, and that means you've got to score a goal or two," Kelderman said. "And then all of a sudden, you can maybe slow the game down a little bit instead of putting yourself in a position where you're chasing the game all the time. It's exhausting when you're playing under the gun. It was unfortunate on the goal. It was a mishap in our own box, and they capitalized on it."
Milwaukee had the better of the looks in the opening 45, with
Roy Nozawa nearly opening the scoring in the 21
st minute, seeing his blast from the left wing go just wide. The team also had a look in the closing seconds on a ball over the top, but
Ben Bausch could not beat the keeper to a better second touch right before the horn sounded. Scoreless at the break, the Panthers came out stronger in the second half, finishing with nine of the 15 total shot attempts.
"I thought the energy was better in the second, we came out a little bit flat in the game," Kelderman said. "We talked about at halftime the guys came out with more energy. I thought it showed – the shot count improved, the energy improved, the opportunities improved, but we just weren't sharp enough today to at least get the one goal to tie it. And if you get the one goal, especially being aggressive about things, you just carry on, you get a little momentum, the tide turns your way, and we were struggling to get that first goal today. I thought the opportunities were there."
In the second, Bausch just missed a header in the 51
st minute on a nice buildup from
Felix Huwiler and
Dominic Zuniga.
Max Salas sent a shot just wide of the post in the 76
th, and
Riley Stevens almost came up the late hero, seeing his header off a Zuniga free kick whistle just wide in the 89
th minute.
"I told the guys, kudos to the energy in the fight, specifically in the second half," Kelderman said. "We've got to be sharper in our execution on that final play, and that's been something that's been a challenge for us from the start of the season."
Cardon Pridie recorded six saves in defeat for the Panthers.
Up next, the Panthers open Horizon League play, hosting Wright State Wednesday. Game time against the Raiders is set for 3 p.m.
