The 3rd Man In

Milwaukee falls to Green Bay in a heart breaker

For the fourth year in a row, the Chancellor’s Cup came down to the wire in what was a very competitive game. The Milwaukee Panthers have held the Cup for the last two seasons, but tonight was a different ending. With their undefeated record on the line, the Panthers lost in double overtime to in-state rival Green Bay, 2-1.

Both teams came out aggressively, but Milwaukee (9-1-1, 2-1) had the edge, controlling the offensive possession. In the 15th minute, the Panthers had a great chance of taking the early lead with a penalty kick, due to a handball by the Phoenix inside the penalty box. The Panthers leading scorer, Laurie Bell, lined up to take the free shot, but was unsuccessful at finding the back of the net.

Milwaukee continued to dominate the possession in the first half, but neither team was able to find away to jump out to a lead. After one half of play the score was tied at zero apiece, with the Panthers leading the shots 10-4.

The second half was the same story for both teams, but this time, they both found away to score. In the 54th minute the Panthers had another great chance at scoring when Green Bay’s goalie, Kyle Ihn, was away from the net. Kostas Kotselas put a shot on goal, but the Phoenix defenders were there to knock it away.

In the 71st minute, Milwaukee finally got onto the scoreboard with a goal from Laurie Bell. The offense was attacking inside the penalty box, when Rami Younes passed the ball to Bell, who finished it off, giving the Panthers the 1-0 lead.

After taking 71 minutes for either team to finally score, the Phoenix answered quickly in the 75th minute on a penalty kick, after a Panther defender was called for a handball inside the box. Now with the score tied 1-1, both teams had an equal shot of taking home the Cup, but this game need extra time to determined a winner.

In the first overtime, both teams were able to record a shot, but only Milwaukee was able to force the goalie to do any work. Just like the last three meetings between these two schools, this game would be decided in double overtime.

The Panthers had a chance to continue their dominance and hold onto the Cup in the 105th minute when Luke Goodnetter shot the ball, but Green Bay’s goalie, Ihn, made another great save. The Phoneix, then moved the ball down field, and in the 106th minute, Sam Krenzien’s shot was blocked. Although the ball was blocked it continued to roll, and went in off of a Milwaukee defender’s knee, to give Green Bay the impressive 2-1 victory on the road.

This was a disappointing game for the Panthers as they dominated the shots, 27-14, and corner kicks, 8-5. The difference maker in this game was Phoenix goalie, Kyle Ihm. The freshman goalkeeper played the game of his life, finishing the game with 13 saves. Not only did he slow down the top offense in the Horizon League, but he hardly gave them any second chance opportunities.

Although this was a heart breaking lose, the Panthers will need to rebound quickly as they return to action on the road this Saturday against Valparaiso. The Crusaders are 3-3-5 on the season and 0-1-2 in Horizon League play. While, no game is easy on the road, I feel bad for Valparaiso. Knowing the Panthers, expect them to not take tonight’s lose very lightly, and come out and have one of their best performances of the season.

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