The 3rd Man In

Milwaukee Panthers Fall Sports Roundup

Here’s a recap of your Milwaukee Panthers in action this past week. United We Roar!

Women’s Soccer: After opening the season with a victory against Western Illinois, the Panthers were unable to keep the momentum going, falling to Illinois State 3-1 on the road Friday evening.

This game was a tale of two haves. Holding a 1-0 lead after the first half, the Panthers struggled defensively, allowing three goals in the final 45 minutes of play.

Sophomore forward Sydney Senn led the Panther offensive attack, registering one goal and three shots. Junior goalkeeper Paige Lincicum also had a big night, making a career-high 10 saves.

The Panthers then continued their road trip, traveling to Indianapolis, Ind. to face former Horizon League foe Butler on Sunday. A penalty kick in the 15th minute for the Bulldogs proved to be the difference as they knocked off Milwaukee 1-0.

It was a strong defensive showing by the Panthers, led by Lincicum and her seven saves, but their offensive attack was none existent, as they tallied zero shots.

Milwaukee will now be off until Sunday when they face Northern Illinois on the road.

Volleyball: It was a jammed packed weekend for the Panthers who kicked off their season by hosting the Pepsi Panther Invitational. They began the weekend with a Friday night contest against Western Michigan. It was a back-and-forth battle, but Milwaukee prevailed winning in four sets.

Senior Sammi Herron led the way for the Panthers, tallying 18 kill. Juniors Kaisa Mattson and Taylor Mansfield along with freshman Maddie Williams also recorded double-digit kills.

Junior Myanna Ruiz finished with a solid 30 digs while senior Kayla Price totaled 52 assists.

This was a solid, competitive match by both sides and it prepared Milwaukee well for a challenging Saturday with matches against Furman University and Missouri State.

In an early afternoon contest against Furman University, the Panthers battled back after dropping two of the first three sets to win in five.

Senior Maggie Dunbar paced the offense, registering a career-high 25 kills, while Williams added 12 kills. Ruiz once again led the team in kills (22), while Price dished out 42 assists.

In the championship game of the invitational, the Panthers squared off against Missouri State. It was a competitive match, but Missouri State was able to edge Milwaukee in three straight sets that all came down to the wire.

Overall it was a solid weekend for the Panthers who showed signs of being a talented squad. They need to work on finishing out sets and cleaning up the simple mistakes before the conference schedule kicks off, but there is no reason why they can’t improve.

Up next the volleyball team will play Northern Illinois on the road Monday before taking part in the Bison Tournament in Fargo, N.D. where they will face Utah Valley, Towson and North Dakota State.

Men’s Soccer: With the rain falling on a cool, breezy Friday evening, the Panthers stormed out of the gate and rolled past the University of Evansville, claiming a 5-2 victory, thanks in large part to senior midfielder Declan Rodriguez who registered two goals.

The Panthers jumped onto the scoreboard early, taking a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute, when Rodriguez found the back of the net off of a pass from freshman Sean Holmes.

From that point forward, Milwaukee took full control of the game, dominating the possession. They recorded 27 shots compared to only 13 by the visiting Purple Aces, while also logging 12 of the 13 corner kicks in the game.

Freshmen Matthias Binder and Francesco Saporito and senior Aaron Horvat each tallied a goal of their own.

Following Milwaukee’s impressive victory, they hit the road to face No. 6 Creighton on Sunday.

The Panthers had their hands full with the Bluejays, as they struggled to develop any sort of rhythm on either side of the ball, suffering a 4-0 defeat.

Creighton held a 25-4 advantage in shots, while also tallying 10 shots on goal, compared to only one for the Panthers.

This was a tough test for the young, inexperienced Milwaukee squad, but this should be a good learning experience for them since they won’t play another team at this level the remainder of the regular season.

Up next the Panthers will have one of their biggest games of the season as they host Marquette for the annual battle for the prestigious Milwaukee Cup on Thursday evening.

Stay tuned next week for the third edition of the Milwaukee Panthers Fall Sports Roundup to be up to date on everything happening with these three successful programs.

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