MILWAUKEE – Lauren Nidey recorded her third shutout of the season in net and the Milwaukee women's soccer team got a goal in each half to claim a 2-0 victory over Valparaiso Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
The Panthers (2-4-1) turned up the pressure in the second half against the Beacons (2-4-1), finally breaking through for a second goal late to put the match away.
Ashlyn Skinner-Barrett gave the team the 1-0 lead in the first and
Emily Petring capped the match with the second goal in the 88
th minute.
"I thought we managed the game pretty well as a whole," head coach
Kevin Boyd said. "The first half I thought they played very well. They are a good program and I knew coming in this was going to be a battle, and it was. They are really good in the one-on-one battle everywhere, and it kind of took us out of our game a little bit in the first half and we got too wound up in that one-on-one battle. Not enough moving off the ball, getting loose and connecting passes and creating our own chances. Second half we were more about connecting passes in the attacking half of the field and were able to keep the ball to get better chances."
Back-and-forth from the start, the MKE offense finally started to hold possession and make bigger threats. The first goal came off possession from the defending third, with Sabdh Griffin playing a long ball to the top of the 18. Skinner-Barrett and the Valpo goalkeeper were both charging at it, with Skinner-Barrett heading it up and over for the opener at the 28:33 mark.
"A very, very brave finish from Ashlyn for her to get up and contest with the keeper at the top of the box and get her head on it," Boyd said.
Looking to double the lead in the 40
th minute,
Emily Urban carried the ball into the Beacon zone and dribbled right through a couple of defenders, finding
Taylor Richards at the wing. She tried to sneak her shot inside the near post, but a quality save kept it 1-0 into the half.
The second half was all Panthers, outshooting the visitors 13-2 while in full control. Petring and Skinner-Barrett connected on a nice break to find
Ashlyn Derosier for a good look, but her shot went right at the goalie to thwart the opportunity in the 55
th minute.
"I definitely thought we left some goals hanging out there – I actually thought Valpo probably should have scored one – but I think we should have scored three more," Boyd said. "So that's a good sign if we're creating those kinds of chances. We're creating most of those dangerous ones, we're inside the 18, which is where we want to be."
As regulation ticked away the final minutes, Derosier found Petring racing to the corner. After finding an opening, Petring threaded the needle from the endline, finding a small window to the far post for her second goal of the campaign at the 87:36 mark, finishing the tough angle.
"I didn't think we did a great job closing out the game in the last five to ten minutes," Boyd said. "We didn't recognize soon enough to just put balls deep in the corner on them. When we started doing that, then they had to worry about that space and then that allowed Emily to kind of creep in from that space and come into goal and she put it away really well."
For the match, Milwaukee owned advantages of 19-9 in total shots, 9-5 in shots on goal, and 4-2 in corner kicks. Petring had a team-high five shot attempts to lead the way. Nidey was credited with five saves for the clean sheet, but also made several impressive stops of crossing passes before danger arrived.
"I thought we defended pretty well as a whole," Boyd said. "We recognized the way they were going to attack and what they were trying to do and we just took that part away from them. So that's why they only had two shots in the second half. I thought we did that part well, but I was more pleased with second half, connecting passes, attacking at them."
The Panthers will remain at home for a third straight outing, hosting Eastern Michigan Sept. 10 in their only game of the week, as well as the final tuneup prior to the start of Horizon League play. Game time Thursday is set for 6 p.m.
"Really happy with second game of the weekend … second half, our energy stayed high, we kept pushing it, trying to find another goal," Boyd said. "That's what you want. I mean, if you want to win championships, you've got to win second games of the weekend and we're showing we can do that."
