The 3rd Man In

Headed to the championship game

Although the semifinal games were moved to today, it did not affect the Milwaukee Panthers one bit. They were able to get an impressive win over Oakland University, 2-0, to advance to the Horizon League Championship game tomorrow against UIC.

Laurie Bell led the Panthers to victory as he gave them the early 1-0 lead with a goal in the 13th minute. He took a shot from far out on the left side of the field, and was able to chip the shot over Oakland’s goalkeeper Sean Lewis. After the ball went over the leaping goalie, it went off the far post for his 13th goal of the season. James Ashcroft and Austin Toth were each credited with assists on the impressive goal.

Then in the 38th minute defenseman, Andrew Stone was able to score the Panthers second and final goal of the game. Stone was able to find the back of the net after Oakland was unable to clear the Panthers shot, for his second goal of the season, with Declan Rodriguez recording the assist.

In the first half the Panthers completely dominated possession. Not only were they able to get two goals, but they also led the Golden Grizzlies in shots, 8-2.

The Golden Grizzlies came close to at least scoring one goal in the first half, but goalie Liam Anderson was able to make a couple nice saves.

In the second half, the weather got worse as the rain started to pick up, and neither team was able find the back of the net. While Oakland had eight shots, none of them were close to going in. Milwaukee on the other hand forced Oakland to make three saves, but could not find away to score.

Liam Anderson recorded his ninth shutout of the season, with only the two saves in the first half. The Panthers played well and were clearly the better team, and are now moving on in the tournament.

Milwaukee is now headed to the title game, and it will not be as easy as it was today. UIC won the regular season title for a reason, and the Panthers will need to play their best if they want to claim the Horizon League Championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

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