Panther Men’s soccer faced off against the St. Thomas in a non-conference matchup this past Saturday. The Match took place at Englemann Stadium, the Tommies headed into the match with an overall record of 2-1-2. The Panthers were sitting at 1-2-1.
The game started at a brisk pace with the Panthers playing hard defense to avoid an early Tommies push. Play was physical from the start, but especially around the 13th minute were both teams got scrappy, players briefly shoved each other before teammates stepped in and broke it up.
Midway through the first half the Panthers were able to flip the switch from defending to attacking, which generated a few shots later in the half. In the 44th minute the referee went to his pocket for the first time in the game, assigning the Panthers their first yellow card. The half ended 0-0, possession roughly split, Panthers with three saves and the Tommies with two.
The second half barely underway, the Panthers took another yellow in the 47th minute. Three minutes later the Tommies were issued their first caution. The Tommies made a solid push into the box early in the second half, where mistakes led to a 52nd minute, Lorenzo Jacon deflected loose ball into the back of the net to put the Tommies up 1-0.
When play resumed, it seemed as if the Panthers were destined to equalize the game, attacking well until the 67th minute. The Tommies received another yellow card in the 65th minute.
Milwaukee continued to create chances well into the late game getting closer all the way until the end. The last shot came late in the 88th minute which went wide of equalizing the game. Ultimately, Milwaukee was unable to capitalize on their chances falling to St. Thomas 0-1.
St. Thomas continued the physicality through to the final whistle, getting yellow card in the 84th and 89th minutes. The Panthers had 14 shots to the Tommies 12, St. Thomas putting seven on target to the panthers five. while both teams took five corners respectively. Possession was split 52%-48% in favor of the Panthers.
“I thought the energy in the second half was good. It was adequate to get a result…We created chances, but we just weren’t sharp enough on that final shot,” said Head coach Kris Kelderman about coming out with more energy which showed. “We’ll go at it with good energy, that’s were our bread and butter”
Ultimately, this loss doesn’t spell despair for the Panthers year. It’s a learning opportunity still early in the season. Moving forward the team will need to focus on minimizing mistakes in their box.
This team showed some serious fight today, which will serve them well as the Horizon league recalibrates for another season. The Panther’s will open conference play next Wednesday at home against Wright State at 3pm.