The UW-Milwaukee women’s soccer team fought back from an early deficit to earn a 1-1 draw against the Detroit Mercy Titans on Sunday in a windy contest at Engelmann Stadium.
The Panthers now sit at 4-6-2 on the year and 3-0-1 in league play.
Milwaukee had a bright start to the contest with a flurry of chances.
The best of those came in the fifth minute after good combination play from Kristina Karlof, Lainey Higgins and Kayla Rollins. Rollins had a strike from the right side of the box that stung the gloves of Titans’ keeper Marisa Silver who acquired the save.
Detroit Mercy’s best look in the first half came from a corner that was headed on goal that was stopped on the line, and eventually claimed by Milwaukee keeper Parker Donahugh in the 34th minute.
A few minutes later, Panthers’ midfielder Senya Meurer had a powerful shot from outside the box that rattled the top right corner of the crossbar.
The game went into halftime with no score.
The Panthers had a 10-6 advantage in shots and 7-2 advantage in corners in the first half.
“I think just connecting to feet more,” said midfielder Jenni Andjelic about the Panthers’ struggles finding the back of the net in the first half. “We were forcing a lot of balls behind their back line, which the wind was a factor too.”
Andjelic almost found her way onto the scoresheet in the 54th minute. After a good cut onto her left foot, she unleashed a thundering strike from above the 18-yard box that was saved by Silver. Had Silver not intervened, the ball was destined for the side-netting in the opposite corner of the goal.
The second half started to get a bit chippy down the stretch. Detroit Mercy committed 12 fouls in the second half while Milwaukee had five of their own.
The Titans struck first in the 74th minute off a corner. The inswinger went back post, which was headed towards midfielder Abbey Lodato who one-timed the ball into the net.
Four minutes later, the Panthers answered with a goal of their own. Midfielder Lainey Higgins played forward Kayla Rollins through on goal who took a touch, then fired a shot past Marisa Silver equalize the contest at 1-1.
“We jumped on them immediately,” said head coach Kevin Boyd, who liked his team’s response after Detroit’s opening goal.
After some back-and-forth action, the game finished at 1-1 score after 90 minutes.
The Panthers ended with 20 shots to Detroit’s 12. That went along with a 12-3 Milwaukee advantage on corners.
“This is on us,” said Boyd. “It’s our quality and finishing.. We just got to be better. Our quality wasn’t good enough, especially in the attacking third.”
After a busy schedule the last couple of weeks, the Panthers get a good chunk of time off before their next go around.
The UW-Milwaukee women’s soccer team will welcome the Youngstown State Penguins to Milwaukee on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. The Penguins currently sit at 3-7-2 on the year and are 1-3 in conference play.