Milwaukee City Wire

Fernando Pirry matched a program record by scoring four goals as the Milwaukee Panthers men's soccer team defeated Chicago State 9-1 at Engelmann Stadium on Tuesday night. The win marked the highest goal tally for the Panthers in a single game in 35 years and extended their unbeaten home streak to 12 matches, the longest since setting a school record of 13 games in 2002.

"It was a good performance, really, from top to bottom," head coach Kris Kelderman said. "It was a good team performance; we had good individual performances. It is something that we have been striving for and going into the conference game (Saturday), I think it was good. Some guys got some good play in; we were able to rest some people. The guys that came in did a nice job."

Pirry became only the 11th player in program history to score four goals in one match and is the first to do so since Aaron Horvat achieved the feat during the 2013 season. He accomplished this on six shots and did not play during the second half.

"It's one of those games, where you know, you would love to leave people in the game, but you have to think long-term and what's best for the group," Kelderman said. "And at the end of the day, what might be best physically for players even though they might argue with that. We had to make some decisions that weren't easy today and think about the next game."

The Panthers opened scoring early with Dominic Zuniga netting a goal less than five minutes into play, assisted by Bienvenu Djunga and Breon Jarvis. By halftime, Milwaukee led 6-0 with Pirry contributing three more goals before adding his fourth just before intermission.

"The intensity right from the get-go, I thought was excellent," Kelderman said. "We have been challenged so far in scoring some goals. We have had some good opportunities, but just finishing has been a challenge for us."

In total, eight different Panthers scored while nine recorded assists—breaking another school record with 12 assists in one match; previously set at 11 against Lewis College in 1979.

Other notable contributions included Zuniga and Felix Huwiler each registering a goal and two assists; Djunga added both a goal and an assist while Jarvis provided two assists.

Chicago State managed their lone goal late off a corner kick after Milwaukee’s Gabe Thistle made it 8-0 with an acrobatic header celebration following Alejandro Zuniga's free kick assist.

Goalkeeper Nolan Meyer tallied four saves including key stops early when Chicago State threatened to close an initial gap.

Milwaukee finished ahead on shots (24-13) and shots on target (11-5). The victory moves their season record to 1-2-2 as they prepare for their Horizon League opener against Cleveland State at Engelmann Stadium this Saturday at 5 p.m.