Milwaukee Panthers Women’s Sports Roundup

Following the first week of classes, the Milwaukee Panthers women’s soccer and volleyball teams, returned to action for a weekend full of competition.

Under the lights, on a glorious Friday evening at Engelmann Stadium, the women’s soccer team began their weekend with a challenging matchup against Boston College – an Elite Eight team a year ago.

The Panthers and Eagles battled back and forth throughout the first period, as the game went into halftime tied at zero, despite the Eagles holding the edge in shots, 9-to-2.

Boston College was able to carry their momentum over into the second period, scoring a goal only two minutes in, to jump out to a 1-0 advantage. They then came back in the 79th minute to secure the victory with another goal.

Milwaukee had numerous chances to get on the board, with their best opportunity coming in the first half when an Eagle defender was whistled for a handball inside the box. The Panthers lined up for the penalty kick, but the Eagles’ keeper dove to her right to save the ball from rolling in.

This was obviously not the result the Panthers were hoping for, falling to 1-4-0 on the season with the loss. Milwaukee fought extremely hard, and despite not winning the possession battle, that they are capable of competing against elite talent.

Despite allowing two goals, Milwaukee keeper Paige Lincicum recorded an impressive eight saves in the game.

Following practice on Saturday, the Panthers returned to Engelmann to face the undefeated DePaul Blue Demons on Sunday. Milwaukee stormed out of the gate, controlling the possession right away.

Only 12:04 into the game, captain Maria Stephans fired a shot that was blocked by the defense. The ball bounced right back to Morgan LaPlant, who delivered the ball into the net to give Milwaukee an early 1-0 lead.

Less than six minutes later LaPlant came back again and one-timed Kelly Lewers’ pass for her second goal of the game.

Although it was early, the Panthers had all the momentum in their favor as the DePaul crowd began to get nervous. However, the Blue Demons responded scoring two unanswered goals, to tie the contest up entering halftime.

Milwaukee came out of the locker room and was determined to score, but they were unable to finish their chances. With only 14 minutes remaining, DePaul was able to pull ahead, and win the game 3-2.

This was a disappointing loss for the Panthers who were arguably the better team for the majority of the game, but DePaul was able to capitalize on a few mistakes the Panthers had to walk away victorious.

The women’s soccer team continues to improve each and every game, and although the final result wasn’t what anyone wanted this weekend, they played hard and with a sense of purpose until the final whistle.

Now the Panthers will try to build on these performances, as they will face cross-town rival, Marquette this Thursday before traveling south to face Auburn this Sunday.

This past weekend the volleyball squad traveled to Springfield, Missouri to take part in the Missouri State Wynn Invitational. The Panthers had a challenging weekend, playing four matches in only two days.

In their first match on Friday they fell three straight sets to Oral Roberts. Although senior Julie Kolinske had a match-high 19 kills, the team as a whole struggled to get in to a rhythm.

They came back with a vengeance on Friday evening however, knocking off the University of Incarnate Word 3-0. Hannah Blanchard and Kolinske each recorded double-digit kills to lead Milwaukee to victory.

The Panthers didn’t get much rest following their swept against Incarnate Word, as they were back to the court Saturday morning to square off against Western Kentucky.

It was a close match the entire way, but the Panthers fell on the wrong side of the decision, losing three sets to one. Kolinske recorded a game-high 17 kills, while her and Nicole Latzig both hit .400 or better in the match.

Milwaukee played well, but they were unable to finish, falling to a good Western Kentucky team.

In their final match in the Missouri State Wynn Invitational, the Panthers fell in straight sets to host Missouri State Saturday evening.

After Kolinske had an outstanding performance over the two-day span, she was named to the all-tournament team, tallying 55 kills overall.

This was a tough end to a difficult weekend for the Panthers volleyball team, who had to fight the adversity of playing four matches in two days. This isn’t easy especially when you aren’t winning, but the Panthers continue to show signs of being an extremely competitive team once again this season.

They will return to action this weekend, as they will participate in the University of Minnesota Diet Coke Classic going up against Iowa State, #19 Minnesota and Tulsa in a two-day span.

It was a long weekend for the women’s soccer and volleyball teams. Although the end result wasn’t there for either squad for the most part, both teams played well and had relentless effort when they were down. It is still early in the season, and both teams are making strides as conference play approaches.

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

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