In a game that was anything but easy, the UW-Milwaukee women’s soccer team held on to defeat the Illinois State Redbirds 2-1 in their final non-conference game Wednesday night at Engelmann Stadium.

After each team missed on opportunities to take an early lead, Milwaukee senior forward Kelly Lewers scored her fifth goal of the season in the 28th minute. Lewers received the ball inside the penalty box after shielding off a defender to get position, then quickly turned and shot a rocket past Illinois State goalkeeper Aryn Newsom. The goal came off a beautiful cross from senior midfielder Morgan LaPlant, moving her assists total to four on the year.

The Panthers lead didn’t last for long as Illinois State forward Rachel Tejada scored her tenth goal of the season in the 36th minute. Coming into tonight’s contest, Tejada came in tied for 12th place in goals scored for D1 women’s soccer.

The score remained that way heading into half time, as each team could only capitalize once on the 13 combined first half shots on goal. Milwaukee head coach Greg Henschel viewed the first 25 minutes as the key to tonight’s victory.

“I think our first 25 minutes were fantastic,” Henschel said. “But I think what sometimes gets lost is the impact of our first 25 minutes on the last 15-20 minutes of the game, and I was really proud of the team and how we handled all 90 minutes tonight.”

Milwaukee scored their second goal of the night in the 59th minute when sophomore Maria Stephans scored her first goal of the season. The goal was assisted once again by LaPlant. LaPlant sent in another perfect cross from the right side of the field landing right at Stephans feet, who then flicked the ball perfectly over the goalkeepers head into the back of the net giving the Panthers the lead.

Stephans’s goal in the 59th minute was ultimately the deciding factor in the game, but the Redbirds didn’t go away quietly, going on the attack for most of the final 20 minutes. Illinois State had its best opportunity to tie the game up in the 79th minute when Tejada’s diving header barely miss over the cross bar.

Panther’s goalkeeper Paige Lincicum came up big for her team tonight as she recorded nine saves. Coach Henschel was very pleased in his goalkeeper’s performance and pointed out her improvement as the season has progressed after the game.

“Paige was strong, and her confidence is growing with every game,” Henschel said. “She’s getting off her line, distributing better and better every day so we’re just going to keep seeing her grow over the rest of the season and going forward.”

UWM improved to 5-7 on the season after last night’s victory and jump back into conference play this Saturday as they welcome Cleveland State for a 4 p.m. kickoff at Engelmann Stadium.