MILWAUKEE – Vuk Latinovich found the back of the net in the 75^th minute to send the Milwaukee men's soccer team to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Wisconsin late Wednesday night at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (5-5) doubled up the Badgers (2-7-1) in shots in the contest, eventually finding a much-deserved goal late in the contest to prevail in the state rivalry.
 
"I thought we were playing pretty well," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "I was really pleased with the performance in the first half. We went into halftime and tried to get better. But, Vuk came up with a great goal and we got a great result."
 
A wet evening set the stage for the matchup, eventually turning into a heavy rain after halftime. After a series of near-misses, Latinovich found the game-winner with a pretty one-touch off a pass from Evan Conway, using his left foot from the top of the box to sneak the ball inside the far post.
 
"The guys managed the weather very well tonight," Kelderman said. "There were times when we had to be more direct, had to challenge a little bit harder for 50-50 balls and we came through."
 
The only goal of the game came at the 74:14 mark, with the team celebrating in the far corner before Latinovich high-fived the fans along the far sideline to finish it off.
 
"I feel like the team has been playing well the last handful of games and we have been unfortunate and haven't been able to grind out a result," Kelderman said. "Tonight, it went our way."
 
Milwaukee nearly had the opening goal on a couple of quality chances.
 
Abdu Regassa, who picked up an assist on the goal after winning the ball to set up Conway's pass, nearly had a goal of his own in the 51^st minute. His blast from the top of the box was headed towards goal, blocked away at the last second.
 
In the first half it was back-to-back chances that came close. Evan Conway had one of them in the 37^th minute, sliding a combination of passes from Kasper Davidsson and Tiahn Manuel past the keeper, only to see it go off the far post and back into play. Regassa followed that up seconds later with a shot that went just high.
 
Joshua Kidder nearly provided an insurance tally just minutes after the Latinovich goal. Kidder carried the ball into the box, firing a shot on goal that was blocked by the defense. The ball came right back to Kidder, who fired again, only to see a great save by the UW keeper keep the contest at 1-0 in the 77^th minute.
 
Freddy Lorenzen came through with his third shutout of the season, making a pair of saves on the night.
 
For the game, Milwaukee finished with a 16-to-8 shot advantage that included a 6-to-2 edge in shots on goal. The Panthers also finished with nine of the 16 corner kicks on the night, helping MKE to its first win in the series in eight tries, dating back to 2012. Since then, UW had a trio of 1-0 wins and a pair of draws.
 
Regassa led the offense with four shots, with Latinovich adding three.
 
It's back into Horizon League play next for the squad, hosting IUPUI Saturday. Game time against the Jaguars is set for 7 p.m. at Engelmann Stadium.
 

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