NIU men’s soccer (2-7, 0-1 MVC) was shut out for the second straight game, losing to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers (3-1-3, 0-1-1 Horizon League) in a 2-0 defeat. With the loss, the Lewang Cup remains in Milwaukee for a second season straight.
“I thought we were really good tonight,” said NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan. “With the exception of the two goals, which I thought were really poor from us to give up. One in our possession that we turned over and they scored, and then I think the second one was just poor defensive shape from us. With the exception of that, I thought we were really good. We created a lot of chances, but you know, when things aren’t going right, they aren’t going right.”
The Panthers struck in the 10th minute, when senior midfielder/defender Raul Medina sent the ball past Huskie redshirt freshman goalkeeper Caleb Pearson into the lower left corner of the goal.
A minute later, NIU senior forward Zachariah Thomas created a chance for the Huskies to even the score, but the goal was blocked by Panther senior goalkeeper Daniel Ibarra.
Two minutes after the first goal, Milwaukee found the back of the net again to double the lead. Panther junior forward Alejandro Martinez scored the goal, finding an opening in the lower right side of the goal.
In the final 10 minutes of the match, the Huskies created six opportunities to prevent the shutout, but none of them found the back of the net. The best opportunities came from senior forward Kevin Kelly in the 88th minute and sophomore forward Sam Divis in the 89th minute. Both shots were just off target, to the left and then high respectively.
Swan reflected on the numerous missed opportunities at the end of the match.
“If you were to look at both of their goals, their players stayed really composed in front of the net,” Swan said. “I think we’re kind of snatching at them a little bit. I think we’ve worked so hard that we’re just settling down to get that final composure. Kevin Kelly’s a whisker away from smashing on off the top corner and I think Sam (Divis) was just a little off balance on his last one. It’s just the little things like that.”
The Huskies outshot the Panthers 18-13, five of which were on goal. Pearson recorded 4 saves, while Ibarra notched 4 for the Panthers.
Swan commented on improvements he hopes to see before the match on Saturday.
“We just got to find the finishing touch,” Swan said. “I was much happier looking at the stat sheet today, and I felt like we created a lot more chances. Now we’ve got to get a higher ratio of shots to shots on goal. We had 18 shots, only 5 on goal, so I think we’ve got to get a few more shots on goal. I really thought our buildup and our possession was really pretty good. We’re not going to try and change who we are; we’re going to try and get better.”
The Huskies are back at home at 7 p.m. Saturday for conference play against University of Illinois Chicago at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex in DeKalb. Live stats will be updated on SIDEARM Stats, and NIU All-Access will have a live stream.
