MILWAUKEE - Evan Conway scored his second goal of the game in the 95^th minute to send the Milwaukee men's soccer team to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Wright State Saturday afternoon at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (7-5-3, 3-3-0 Horizon League) overcame a pair of one-goal deficits to top the Raiders (8-5-1, 4-2-0 Horizon League), a team that came into the contest in first-place in the conference standings and ranked No. 8 in the United Soccer Coaches Great Lakes Regional poll.
 
"Very pleased, very excited for the guys," Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman said. "The difference showed when we came out in the second half. I thought we were much better. Lots of respect for Wright State, there's a reason they are in first place coming into this game. Not only are they a good team, but they are a big, strong, physical team. We had our work cut out for us today."
 
On a day where rain fell throughout and the start time was pushed up five hours to stay ahead of the heavier weather, Wright State struck first. Stefan Rokvic's 21^st-minute header ended up being the only scoring in the first half, a period in which the visitors outshot UWM 7-to-4.
 
"You've got to buckle down mentally with the elements, when it's raining like this, it's going to affect the game in some capacity," Kelderman said. "It's tough to be super-sharp on a wet, slick field. The guys remained focused and knew at times we could play good soccer and other times you just have to roll up your sleeves and grind it out."
 
That all changed after intermission. The Panthers would outshoot WSU 13-to-3 the rest of the way, making it a new game in the 53^rd minute on Conway's first strike. Magnus Flaatedal started the play, sending a ball over the top for Jason Palitang Svensson. Svensson carried it forward and sent a cross to Conway, who saw his shot hit the crossbar first, bounce straight down and go in off the keeper to make it 1-1.
 
Just when it looked like Milwaukee had momentum, the Raiders had an answer. Less than four minutes after it was tied, WSU retook the one-goal advantage on Rokvic's second of the day, tucking one in at the post at the 56:43 mark.
 
"It shows a lot of resilience," Kelderman said of coming back from down a goal twice. "That is something to pretty proud of as a coach. You can only hope your players want to win as badly as you do, and today they showed that. There is something to be said about winning and how it affects your mentality and confidence level. We've had some good performances and gotten some good results lately. I feel like we have some momentum, now we just have to keep focused."
 
Trailing again, the Panthers were undeterred and kept pressing, finding the next equalizer in the 65^th minute. It was Flaatedal again who ran down a loose ball along the end line. His service skipped through the front of the goal, sent home by a charging Jaime Colin to make it 2-2 at the 64:35 mark.
 
The match would stay there until the end of regulation, despite a few solid efforts by both sides.
 
In overtime, Jonathan Stadler had the ball on the wing and carried it forward, letting loose a crack from 40 yards that was saved. Less than a minute later, Stadler won a key ball and sent a pass forward to Nick Moon. Moon then went blazing down the sideline, firing a perfect crossing pass to Conway who was there for the winner, his fifth goal of the season at the 94:02 mark of the game.
 
On the day, UWM ended up with a 17-to-10 advantage in shots, as well as earning five of the six corner kicks of the contest. WSU was whistled for 16 of the 31 fouls and three of the five yellow cards. Conway finished with a game-high five shots.
 
In goal, Freddy Lorenzen was credited with a pair of saves to earn the victory, while Joel Sundell made five stops outside of allowing the three goals.
 
Up next, the Panthers will once again have just one game on the schedule, heading to Michigan to take on Detroit Mercy on Saturday. Game time against the Titans is set for 12 p.m. CST.

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