After retaining the Milwaukee Cup for the last two years with back-to-back victories over UW-Milwaukee, the cup finally left the Golden Eagles’ talons as they fell to UWM 4-2.
Despite the two-goal victory for UWM, the match was tied at one until the 77th minute when UWM scored a goal from 40 yards out, top shelf, just past the outstretched fingertips of senior goalkeeper Keenan Flynn.
Just before UWM’s game winning goal, Marquette had its best chance to take the lead at the 75:30 mark. Senior midfielder Anthony Colaizzi sent the ball across the net from the left side to freshman midfielder Charlie Hoover, who passed it off his chest, in front of the net to senior midfielder Matt Stummer. Stummer booted it directly into the right goal post. UWM took off the other way towards its second goal.
Coach Louis Bennett pinpointed those events as the turning point of the game.
“The momentum swing was in our favor,” Bennett said. “We hit that ball in the net, it’s a different game.”
Bennett said despite the large momentum swing at that time that his team needs to better weather the storm in those situations.
From there the Panthers tallied on two more goals within a minute starting at 87:24 and 88:34. The third goal, which was the game winner, came off of a cross that split two Marquette defenders to a UWM player, who beat Flynn from 18 yards out. Marquette added a goal off of a corner kick (89:05). It was ruled an own goal.
Sophomore forward Chris Madsen said the third goal was “unlucky” for Marquette.
“A good clearance led to the third goal,” Madsen said. “We were trying to score and that’s what happens.”
Marquette never led in the match as the Golden Eagles went down 1-0 in the 31st minute. They answered with an equalizer off of a throw-in from junior midfielder Callum Mallace to Madsen, who took three dribbles to the top of the goalkeeper’s box and then knocked it into the far post.
Wednesday’s game was the beginning of life without former goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski and possibly the beginning of the Keenan Flynn era.
“I thought he showed relatively good leadership . . . and he did what he could,” Bennett said. “If you give away four goals, you can’t be happy.”
Mallace said the biggest reason for Marquette’s loss was a number of mental lapses in the back and in the middle.
“It’s a 90 minute game and you have to be focused for all 90 minutes,” Mallace said, “and I don’t think we were at times.”
Both teams mustered double digit shot attempts: Marquette had 12 while Milwaukee had 17. While UWM had the shot advantage Marquette had the corner kick advantage seven to two over UWM.
Bennett said the scoring opportunities his team created made this loss disappointing rather than bitterly disappointing.
“It was a great college derby, we just came out on the wrong side of it,” Bennett said. “They put their chances away and we didn’t.”