MILWAUKEE (Oct. 2, 2009) - Freshman John Shakon made seven saves to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's soccer team shutout Cleveland State University Friday night at Engelmann Field. Despite outshooting their opponents by a count of 24-to-13, the Panthers (1-7-2, 0-1-2 Horizon) were unable to find the back of the net in earning the 0-0 draw against the Vikings (3-3-3, 1-0-2).

UWM had several chances in the overtime sessions, including one final attempt with four seconds left that was cleared off the goal line on a header by a CSU defender.

Milwaukee was close all night, most notably in the 93rd minute when freshman Cody Banks sent a header past the Cleveland State keeper to the far post. The ball looked like it was headed into the net for the golden goal, but bounced off the inside of the right post and deflected back into play and across the goal line.

It was that type of night for the Panthers, as they had apparent goals called off by an offsides call, a foul call and also had a penalty kick get saved.

"It was good to get a shutout. Defensively we worked hard and stayed disciplined," Milwaukee head coach Jon Coleman said. "On the other end, I think we were just a bit unlucky. We hit the post, missed a penalty ... the opportunities and chances were there, we were just unfortunate not to score. I thought we manufactured some good chances and were exciting going forward. It was a hard-fought battle and we are looking and fighting for points right now."

Banks had a couple of other opportunities after regulation, but sent chances just high in the 102nd minute and also on a header on a pass from sophomore Zach Funk in the 93rd that sailed just over the cross bar.

UWM was clearly the more dominant team in the overtimes, outshooting the Vikings by a total of 8-to-3, including all five shots taken in the second overtime.

Shakon was brilliant in goal, making several quality stops. He took the ball nearly right off the foot of Slavisa Ubiparipovic on a close-range shot attempt in the 77th minute. He also stopped Ubiparipovic on a short free kick by punching the ball over the post in the 35th minute. He came up with stellar stops 15th and 17th minutes as well.

Funk was involved on both plays of the penalty kick, as freshman Andrew Wiedabach fed him a long lead pass for a breakaway attempt in the 23rd minute. After Funk took several touches, CSU goalkeeper Nick Harpel came off his line to challenge and took down Funk in the box. The tackle earned Harpel a red card, but backup goalkeeper Brad Stuver was able to make a save on Funk's low PK attempt and keep the game at zeroes.

In addition to the total shot count, Milwaukee also led in shot on goal by a 12-to-7 margin. It also earned six corner kicks to five for the visitors, while the Vikings were whistled for 18 of the 30 fouls in the match.

Junior Greg Rosenthal led UWM offensively with seven shots, while Banks ended with four in just 37 minutes of action. Wiedabach also had a season-high five. Ubiparipovic led CSU with five shots and three shots on goal, while Stuver ended the game with 10 saves of his own.

The Panthers are back in action Sunday, when they close out the weekend with a 1 p.m. game against the Detroit Titans.