MACOMB, Ill. - Francesco Saporito and Nick Moon scored two minutes apart in the first half and the defense did the rest as the Milwaukee men's soccer team claimed a 2-0 victory over Western Illinois Tuesday afternoon at John MacKenzie Alumni Field.
 
"It was a good complete performance from start to finish," Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman said. "We are on a good run now over the past six games and are doing our best to keep this thing going. It was another nice win and two nice goals by the guys. Nick Moon is on a roll scoring; Frankie [Saporito] is on a roll scoring."
 
The Panthers (6-4-1) continued their mastery over the Leathernecks (5-5-1), handing them their first loss at home this season in winning for the seventh time in the last eight matchups in the all-time series.
 
"Another shutout," Kelderman said. "Our team defense has been very good for a number of games in a row now. Our goalkeeper all the way to our attackers – everyone is working hard on the defensive end. We are trying to improve and be a team that is hard to play against."
 
Milwaukee started slow, held without a shot of any kind until one in the 22^nd minute that went well wide. About six minutes later UWM took advantage when Nick Moon was fouled near the top of the box, with Saporito netting yet another free kick at the 28:47 mark to make it 1-0.
 
His 25-yard attempt caught a piece of the wall to put some tough spin on the ball, deflecting off the bottom of the cross bar on the way in, marking the fourth goal of the season for Saporito.
 
The Panther fans in attendance were able to get right back to their feet, watching Moon add that second goal just 2:03 later on a well-struck effort from about 20 yards away, to the near post and just outside of the diving arms of the WIU keeper.
 
The goal was set up by Peter Raymonds, who carried the ball to the middle of the field before finding the wide open Moon for his third goal of the season.
 
Sam Glass wasn't called on much on the day, with another brilliant team defensive effort helping the Panthers to their fifth victory in their past six games. Glass made just a pair of stops, one in the 28^th minute that came right before Saporito opened the scoring.
 
The other one came just after Moon's goal, making a nice stop on a header at the 33:17 mark. The Leathernecks managed to get just four shots off in the final 57-plus minutes the rest of the way and none of the four hit the target. The shutout was the third of the season for Glass, all coming in his past four starts in which he has allowed one goal (0.25 GAA the past 360:00).
 
The UWM offense outshot Western, 9-to-8, and both teams had two shots on goal. Western Illinois had seven of the 12 corner kicks and was whistled for 13 of the 23 fouls. Moon paced the offense with three shots.
 
The Panthers make the trip home tonight and have the rest of the week to prepare for an important Horizon League contest at Valparaiso Saturday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and the contest will have a live ESPN3 broadcast for fans to follow along.

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