MILWAUKEE - Freshman Tinashe Marowa scored in the 22^nd minute to put the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team up early, but a late goal by Marquette University brought overtime and eventually forced a 1-1 draw Thursday night in front of a record crowd of 4,030 at Engelmann Stadium.
 
"It was an awesome environment and the crowd was outstanding," Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman said. "You can't beat that. I would have loved to have gotten a win and a reward for the fans coming out, but couldn't be more proud for my players."
 
The Panthers (1-1-1) and Golden Eagles (1-1-1) played an evenly-contested 110 minutes of soccer, with Marquette eventually retaining the "Milwaukee Cup" with the tie – just the fourth in the all-time series that dates back to 1973 and now sees UWM lead 28-11-4.
 
"We have a very young group," Kelderman said. "We started seven freshmen and to throw them into a mix like this, an environment like this, is tough to do. I thought the overall performance was very good."
 
The Panthers came out the aggressor and recorded seven of the first 10 shots of the match. Marowa nearly netted the first goal early, just missing an attempt off a nice feed from senior Declan Rodriguez that barely went wide at the 1:43 mark.
 
Sophomore Nick Moon, who ended the night with a team-high five shots, had a chance after getting behind the defense in the 11^th minute, but a heavy first touch did not allow him to get enough on the strike and resulted in an easy save for the Marquette keeper. It was also nearly 1-0 in the 15^th minute, but freshman Francesco Saporito saw his attempt go clanging off the right post.
 
"The first 25 minutes I was very pleased," Kelderman said. "I thought we created some chances and I thought for sure we'd get a second goal. Unfortunately, we didn't. We had to be a little sharper on the final pass or the final shot."
 
Rodriguez started the scoring play as well, winning possession and putting the ball on the foot of freshman Matthias Binder. Binder threaded a pass to a streaking Marowa, who found himself all alone with the goalie and beat him low and inside the near post.

The goal set off a celebration by the record crowd, with the 4,030 in attendance blowing away the old facility record of 3,312 set in the "Milwaukee Cup" two seasons ago.
 
"It's a great environment for the players and fans alike and I thought the brand of soccer was good," Kelderman said. "Especially this early in the year … it was an exciting evening."
 
Senior Agustin Rey ended the night with six saves, including a phenomenal stop in the 43^rd minute that kept momentum on UWM's side. A blast from the right wing made it through to the front of goal and Rey made the diving stop, which was then cleared out of danger.
 
The game was even throughout and proved that way on the final scoresheet. Both teams had 17 shots and both squads finished with seven corner kicks.
 
Marquette equalized in the 73^rd minute, getting an impressive goal from Louis Bennett II, which eventually was the tally that will keep the "Milwaukee Cup" in his dad's coaching office for the next 12 months.
 
The Panthers had the best chances to win it in the waning minutes of regulation and the overtime sessions. Rodriguez found himself on the lead run to goal, but could not quite control the ball, and Luis Barraza made the save in the 85^th.
 
In the first OT, Moon nearly claimed the in just 42 seconds in, cracking a rocket on goal after collecting a pass from freshman Josh Kaye, but the save was made. Marowa almost came up the hero in the 94^th, only to see his attempt redirect off a ricochet of the final defender and go wide left by a foot.
 
UWM got the final attempt after the clock was stopped on a yellow card with just :03 on the clock, but Binder's quick attempt went wide left at the buzzer.
 
Up next, the Panthers are off until Sunday, heading to Peoria, Ill., for a 1 p.m. matinee against Bradley.

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