KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Milwaukee men's soccer team tried to bounce back from a second-half deficit but could not make it all the way back in falling to UMKC, 2-1, Saturday night at Durwood Stadium.
 
The Panthers (1-1) fell behind the Kangaroos (1-1) by a 2-0 score early in the second half, only to storm back and nearly send the contest to overtime before falling.
 
Reid Stevenson got one back in the 58^th minute, cutting the deficit in half with over a half hour to play on the evening. Despite a doubled-up 12-to-6 advantage in shots in just the second half alone, Milwaukee could not find the back of the net the rest of the way.
 
Henrik Regitnig played a phenomenal game in goal for the 'Roos, making a career-high eight saves to record the victory.

Milwaukee opened the night with a trio of shots and a corner kick, but it was UMKC that struck first, scoring at the 10:45 mark to jump ahead. After a back-and-forth majority of the period, UWM really pushed right before halftime. It produced four shots and a corner kick in the final four minutes of the frame, but to no avail, and the deficit remained 1-0 at the half.
 
Nick Moon came oh-so-close to making it a new game, but his shot found the cross bar just two minutes into the second. What then made it worse was a second UMKC goal, scored less than three minutes later at the 49:57 mark to make it 2-0.
 
The Panthers responded immediately, getting Stevenson's goal on assists by Francesco Saporito and Stephen Andrusko about eight minutes later. The team would continue to push down the stretch. A free kick with 20 minutes to play caused lots of commotion around the goal front. Saporito's original try was saved and Evan Conway nearly had one on a header following a nice buildup from Josh Kaye and Saporito after the ball was played back in.
 
Oliver Haslund made a nice save on a counter opportunity for the Kangaroos in the 72^nd minute to keep it at 2-1, but a quality free kick with about eight minutes left was not taken advantage of and a final shot by Saporito on a break was stopped from the wing.
 
For the game, UWM held advantages of 18-to-10 in shots and 9-to-3 in shots on goal. Milwaukee also had four of the six corner kick attempts and was whistled for 19 of the 46 fouls on the night.
 
Haslund finished with a pair of saves. Saporito finished with a career-high seven shot attempts. His six shots-on-goal marked the most for a Panther since Laurie Bell had six against Green Bay back in October of 2013.
 
Milwaukee returns home from the holiday weekend and takes no time away, welcoming Drake for the home opener Tuesday at Engelmann Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and you can join the Panthers for the annual Men's Soccer Tailgate that evening. Doors open at 6 p.m. for food and prizes.

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