Sophomore Laurie Bell scored on a second-half penalty kick to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team claim a 2-1 victory over Northern Kentucky University Sunday morning at Engelmann Stadium.

The Panthers (1-1-0) trailed the Norse (0-2-0) by a 1-0 score at the half, but got a second-half goal from freshman Declan Rodriguez to tie it before Bell's PK made them a winner. The victory was the first for Kris Kelderman as the Milwaukee head coach.

"It was a tale of two halves today," Kelderman said. "I think it's safe to say that as a group we were disappointed by our play in the first half. We talked about things, we sorted it out and it was much better in the second half and we got the win today."

Trailing, 1-0, at intermission, UWM came out attacking the entire second half, pushing the shot total to 23-to-4 in the game with a 15-to-2 edge in the second.

"I think in the first half, they were just out-competing us," Kelderman said. "In the second half, we fought, we started moving more and we communicated much better."

A near-goal by Bell off a deflection in the 57th minute set up the Panthers for back-to-back corner kicks and Rodriguez finished off the second. He headed in a corner kick from sophomore Zach Stevenson at the far post, netting his second goal in two games at the 58:23 mark.

"We outshot them considerably and that's a good sign," Kelderman said. "We are emphasizing to get forward and press a bit and that's the system we are trying to incorporate. We had a lot of good shots, but we have to hit the target more than we did."

The Panthers took the lead for good after the Norse were whistled for a handball inside the 18-yard-box. Bell stepped up and drilled the penalty kick opportunity, tallying his first goal of the year for the eventual game-winner with the clock reading 76:00.

The offense was firing on all cylinders in the second half and nearly had a handful of more goals when the game was still tied. In the 66th minute, junior James Ashcroft's header on a free kick sailed just high and just a minute later, freshman Aaron Horvat nearly netted his first collegiate goal, missing just wide right.

Junior Robbie Boyd, who led the team with five shots, hit the post in the 75th minute before his cross into the penalty area resulted in the PK chance a minute later.

Down, 1-0, after the Norse scored on a nice combination in the 14th minute, UWM appeared to have tied the game before intermission. Bell had a free kick on the wing, with senior Cody Bank's header going off the cross bar. Freshman Dorian O'Lochlayne tapped in the rebound, but was ruled to be offsides and the game stayed at 1-0.

On the day, the Panthers also earned eight of the nine corner kicks in addition to the decisive advantage in shots. They were whistled for 13 of the 36 fouls in the match, with five yellow cards also issued on the day. Senior John Shakon was credited with just one save in earning the victory, while counterpart Toby Frohlich had five saves in defeat.

The 38th Panther Invitational is next and will be played August 31 & September 2, with Eastern Illinois, Canisius and IUPUI making up the field.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Men's NCAA Tournament First Round Recap

TeamRank Presented By TeamSnap - Boys

Midwest High School Roundup - Nov.