Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee men's soccer team secured a 2-1 victory over Drake on Tuesday evening at Engelmann Stadium. The decisive goal came from Alan Lopez, breaking a 1-1 tie late in the game. This win maintains Milwaukee's unbeaten home record and halts Drake's six-game unbeaten streak.

Milwaukee, with a record of 4-2-3, faced off against Drake, who arrived with a strong season record of 6-3-1 and was ranked No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches West Region Poll. Head coach Kris Kelderman acknowledged the challenge ahead of the match: "We knew it was going to be a hard game," he said. "Drake is having a great season and they are good technically, they are good athletically, they are a big strong team that works extremely hard."

The Panthers opened the scoring in the 25th minute through Asher Ozuzu following a counterattack initiated by Bienvenu Djunga. Despite this early lead, Drake equalized just before halftime when Kai Knuchel capitalized on a corner kick opportunity.

The second half saw fewer chances for Milwaukee until Alan Lopez scored the winning goal in the 81st minute after Mesfin Roda's shot was deflected by Drake's defense. Coach Kelderman praised his players' efforts: "Both goals from Asher and from Alan were huge individual efforts and that's what it takes."

In terms of match statistics, Drake had more shots overall (16 to Milwaukee's nine) and dominated possession with 58 percent. However, Milwaukee managed more shots on target (six compared to five). Goalkeeper Daniel Ibarra made four crucial saves to secure the win.

Milwaukee will next host Oakland for a Horizon League match scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.