The Milwaukee men’s soccer team secured a crucial victory with a strong second-half performance, defeating Northern Kentucky 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at NKU Soccer Stadium. The Panthers, now holding a record of 7-4-4 overall and 3-3-1 in the Horizon League, moved into a temporary tie for fourth place in the standings.
Head coach Kris Kelderman expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, stating, “A very pleasing result and performance today. We went into the game knowing what was at stake. Points are pretty precious in the Horizon League this season.”
The match remained scoreless until late in the first half when Alejandro Martinez scored his eighth goal of the season after executing a give-and-go with Bienvenu Djunga. The Panthers extended their lead in the second half when Mesfin Roda’s free-kick assist allowed Jack Wagner to score his first collegiate goal.
Martinez continued to play a pivotal role by assisting Roda for another goal in the 68th minute. Shortly thereafter, Daiki Kumakawa converted a penalty kick following a foul on Wagner.
Kelderman praised his team’s effort: “Overall, a very good team performance, led by a number of very good individual performances.”
Goalkeeper Daniel Ibarra made three saves before temporarily leaving due to an injury. Nolan Meyer stepped in briefly and made one save before Ibarra returned to finish the match.
Despite Northern Kentucky’s slight edge in total shots (14-12), Milwaukee had more shots on goal (7-5). The Norse also led with six corner kicks compared to Milwaukee’s two.
Milwaukee will conclude its home regular-season schedule against IU Indianapolis on Friday, marking “Senior Night” with kickoff set for 5 p.m.
