Panthers Drop Norse, 2-0
MILWAUKEE - A goal in each half helped the Milwaukee men's soccer team slow down Northern Kentucky in a 2-0 victory Saturday night at Engelmann Stadium.
The Panthers (5-4-2, 1-3-0 Horizon League) got goals from Evan Conway and Henrik Fennefoss to snap the unbeaten streak of the Norse (6-2-3, 2-1-1 Horizon League) at eight games (6-0-2) and get into the win column in conference action.
"Very pleased with the performance, very pleased with the result," UWM head coach Kris Kelderman said. "I couldn't be more proud of the guys. We knew this was a big game for us and Northern Kentucky comes in here with a good record and is a hard team to play against. I think the guys feel very good about it and I think we've turned the corner a little bit here."
Milwaukee carried the game from the start, maintaining a healthy majority of possession that it finally was able to be rewarded for about midway through the first half.
"We got off to a really good start," Kelderman said. "We wanted to be the aggressor, see if we could control the tempo and scored a nice first goal. They are a big, strong physical team. It's hard to break, they are a tough team to play against defensively but we did a nice job."
Francesco Saporito started the first scoring play, chipping a nice pass for Reid Stevenson over the back line. Stevenson turned the ball back towards the goal from the end line, where Conway was waiting to redirect into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead at the 26:12 mark.
Conway nearly had a brilliant goal much earlier, spinning and volleying a centering flick from Vuk Latinovich in the seventh minute.
Freddy Lorenzen posted his fifth shutout of the season, recording just two saves in his 90 minutes of action. The first stop was brilliant, however, and came in the 38th minute when NKU's Liam Evans made something out of nothing, volleying a centering pass off his chest that forced Lorenzen to pop over the cross bar at the last second.
Reid Stevenson looked to add to the lead in the 66th minute, but his volley in front off a Conway cross bounced in front of the keeper and went up-and-over the cross bar.
Conway helped the buildup for the second goal as well, with Fennefoss forcibly sending home the header at the 72:19 mark to make it 2-0. The UWM offense came to play, netting a pair of goals against an NKU defense that had posted six shutouts in its past seven outings.
Fennefoss nearly had a brace, sending a 1 v. 1 attempt after Conway broke him free on the right wing into the side netting in the 78th minute.
For the game, Milwaukee ended with the advantage of 16-to-7 in shots (6-2 shots on goal). The Norse earned seven of the 11 corner kicks and were whistled for 23 of the 42 fouls and handed out four of the five yellow cards.
Up next, it's a quick turnaround for the Panthers, looking to keep the hot streak going on the road at SIU Edwardsville Tuesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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