MILWAUKEE - Freshman Petter Ingebrigtsen and Nick Moon each scored a goal in impressive debuts to help a depleted University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team past DePaul University, 2-1, Friday night at Engelmann Field.

"You play to win and we were working hard to get a result and it happened tonight," UWM head coach Kris Kelderman said. "There were moments when we looked pretty good and there were moments when we made some silly errors. But, at the end of the day, it was a great group effort and we got the result we were looking for."

The Panthers (1-0) were playing without senior All-American Laurie Bell (day-to-day injury), senior captain Richard Johnson (day-to-day injury) and junior Declan Rodriguez (yellow-card accumulation), but still managed to get past the Blue Demons (0-1) when Moon broke a 1-1 deadlock with a pretty goal in the 65th minute.

Ingebrigtsen netted the first goal of the night at the 17:12 mark and assisted the game-winner, getting the team off to a quality start in front of a packed house of 2,167 fans who came out to the season-opening festivities.

DePaul stopped the momentum quickly, tallying the equalizer less than two minutes later on a header off a 30-yard free kick.

"It's very deflating," Kelderman said. "We got off to a good start and scored a nice goal. A couple of minutes later, they scored. We left a man wide open in the box and that takes the wind out of you. There are going to be ups and downs to every match - it's 90 minutes and that is a long time to deal with those things."

The match was even overall and remained 1-1 until well into the second half. Ingebrigtsen had the ball on the wing and served it into the box. Waiting for it was junior Patrick Ruhland, who headed it to the far post. Moon one-timed his kick and flicked it over the charging goalkeeper, making it 2-1 at the 64:09 mark.

"We have high expectations for the freshman we have on top and they showed their talent tonight," Kelderman said. "Nick Moon is a dangerous guy, he's got pace and a lot of technical ability and it was just a matter of time for him to get his first goal."

Sophomore Liam Anderson was pretty special as well, making seven saves on the night to earn the victory. He made quality stops after a turnover in the 43rd minute and a top-of-the-box blast in the 53rd. He saved his best for last, pushing a tough-angled attempt wide of the post at the 88:12 mark to ice it.

The Panthers ended the night with a 12-to-11 advantage in shots, with DePaul holding the edge in attempts on target at 8-to-4. UWM was whistled for 17 of the 31 fouls in a chippy contest that featured seven yellow cards.

The crowd of 2,167 marked the fifth-highest in program history at Engelmann Stadium.

"We were excited," Kelderman said. "To play in front of this crowd was awesome. To provide a win, not only for them but for ourselves, hopefully they will come back again."

The Panthers close out the weekend with a road trip Sunday, heading to Iowa to take on Drake in a 7 p.m. contest.

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