DES MOINES, Iowa – Matthew Cahill and Evan Conway found the back of the net in the second half to send the Milwaukee men's soccer team past Drake by a final score of 2-0 Monday afternoon at Cownie Soccer Complex.
 
The Panthers (2-0) made the most of their chances against the Bulldogs (0-2), scoring the pair of goals despite being outshot by a final count of 14-to-6 on the day.
 
"Great win today for the boys," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "It's never easy traveling on the road. It was hot and humid and took a big effort from the whole team. We relied on our bench as well to help us to victory today."
 
The rest was up to the defense, with Freddy Lorenzen leading the way with a five-save effort that goes down as his 14^th career shutout.
 
"Considering the temperatures and the fatigue that factors in with a second game on the weekend, our approach was a little more defensive," Kelderman said. "The guys stuck to the game plan and we got the result we were seeking."
 
The Panthers were very opportunistic, scoring on two of their three shots on goal in the contest. The first came early, with Conway seeing a left-footed volley saved at the post in the ninth minute.
 
The next didn't come until Cahill pulled off some impressive footwork, working a give-and-go with Abdu Regassa to finally break open the scoring at the 67:56 mark.
 
The play originated the length of the field away, with Lorenzen sending a long kick down the middle of the field. Conway flicked a header overhead, finding Cahill in stride. He sent the ball over the final defender to Regassa, who returned the favor with just enough room for Cahill to beat the goalkeeper to the ball for his first collegiate goal.
 
Lorenzen came up with his best saves of the afternoon in the 62^nd and 65^th minute. The first came on a diving stop on a shot from the top of the 18. The second came on a corner kick, when he popped a redirected header over the crossbar at the last second to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard at an important time in the match.
 
Up 1-0 late, MKE had to defend a handful of final rushes. It took advantage of the last for a counter-attack, with Shawn Azcueta clearing the ball past midfield. Alex Sykes beat the Drake defense to the ball, sending a pass to Joshua Kidder in the middle. Kidder sent to Conway on the wing and he did the rest, sending a perfect shot to the far post for his first goal of season with just five seconds showing on the clock.
 
"Very proud of the team," Kelderman said. "We are off to a good start at 2-0, but there is still room for improvement – we know that – but are excited to prepare for next weekend."
 
Drake owned the shot column at 14-6 (5-3 shots on goal) and earned eight of the 10 corner kicks in the match, only to see the Milwaukee defense up to the task for the big road victory to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2014. Conway did end up with four of the six MKE shots in the contest.
 
The team returns to campus to prepare for a weekend in Alabama, headed to the campus of UAB to participate in the "UAB Soccer for a Cure Classic". Each year, "Soccer for a Cure" brings three other teams from across the country to Birmingham. The teams play games on Friday and Sunday, with the highlight of the weekend is the hospital visit on Saturday.

Milwaukee opens the event Friday against Memphis, set for a 4:30 p.m. CST kickoff.
 

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