The 3rd Man In

Panthers look to rebound after loss

For the first time this season, the Milwaukee Panthers (9-1-1, 2-1) will enter a game not being undefeated. The Panthers will travel to Indiana to face conference foe, Valparaiso (3-3-5, 0-1-2), this Saturday night.

This will only be the Crusaders second home game of the season. They have played 10 of their 11 games on the road, and it has not been an easy start for them. They faced three ranked teams in Michigan State, Tulsa, and Dayton, but were able to record a close victory against Michigan State.

Not only have they struggled against nonconference teams, but they have also not had much luck against Horizon League opponents either. The Crusaders were picked to finish last in the preseason conference poll, and so far they have not done anything to prove the voters wrong. They tied both Oakland and Green Bay 0-0, and lost to Wright State 2-0.

As you can see just from the three conference games, Valparaiso has struggled to score. Overall they have only averaged one goal per game. Charles Barden leads their offense with eight total points on three goals and two assists. While their offense has struggled to find the back of the net, their defense has done a great job not allowing many goals. They have had two different goalies play this season, and they have only allowed a little more than one goal a game overall.

While it will not be easy for the Panthers to score, they are the top ranked scoring offense in conference, and will be looking to improve on their performance against Green Bay. The Panthers dominated the shots against the Phoenix earlier this week (27-14), but they were unable to execute and had only one goal to show for it.

The Milwaukee Panthers will need to rebound against Valparaiso after suffering their first loss of the season. Although Valparaiso has not been an easy team to score against, expect the Panthers’ offense to have one of their best performances of the season.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *