Nov. 10, 2013

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Box Score • Horizon League Video Recap

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Despite goals from Kyla Kellermann, Meghan Reynolds and Sarah Reynolds, the Oakland women's soccer team (10-9-2) could not hold off a late surge by top-seed Milwaukee (10-8-1) Sunday afternoon in the title game of the 2013 Horizon League Championship, hosted by the Panthers at Engelmann Stadium. Milwaukee scored two goals in the game's final three and a half minutes to claim the title and receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

"It was an incredible game between two quality teams," Oakland interim head coach Dave Morgan said. "It was a tough environment for us to come into, but the team responded right away."

Three times Oakland took a one goal lead in the contest, only for Milwaukee to knot up the contest. When the Panthers scored the game's final goal with 23 seconds remaining in regulation, it was the first time Milwaukee held a lead in the game.

Oakland set the tone early when the Grizzlies got on the board with just 1:19 on the clock. Jamie Horne played the ball forward from the center of midfield to the top of the penalty box. There, Kellermann met the ball right before Milwaukee's Paige Lincicum could make the save, and Kellermann proceeded to score the deflection from the left side 10 yards out.

Milwaukee pressed forward and had a trio of shots in the ninth minute, only to have Oakland deny each one. First, Sarah Reynolds deflected a shot attempt from 15 yards out on a Milwaukee breakaway. On the ensuing corner kick, Milwaukee's Krissy Dorre and Allein Szydlowski fired from point-blank range that Oakland goalkeeper Payj O'Shea deflected away.

Milwaukee outshot Oakland 14-4 in the first half, the last of which got the panthers on the board. Maria Stephans hit a shot near post from 12 yards to knot the game at 1-1 with 28 seconds remaining in the half.

The 1-1 draw was short lived, however, as Meghan Reynolds lead Oakland's rush out of the intermission when she scored her eighth goal of the season. Off a feed from Kellermann, Reynolds slotted a ball from the right side to the far post in the 47th minute to again give the Grizzlies a one-goal advantage.

Both teams continued to battle, but in the 62nd minute a challenge between Serena San Cartier and Milwaukee's Lincicum knocked the goalkeeper out of the game. But Milwaukee then came out of the stoppage with their second equalizer in the 63rd minute when Dorre scored her 10th goal of the season for UWM.

With 10 minutes to go in the second half, Oakland ratcheted up its pressure and earned its first two corner kicks of the contest. The second, an inswinger from the left by Rachel DeLuca, was headed first by defender Aly Rawson and then nodded on goal by Joan Sieja, who drilled it far post. But while Milwaukee's Rachel Van Keulen headed Deluca's shot away from danger, it went back into the mix where Sarah Reynolds blasted a header to the back of the net.

But Milwaukee didn't go down quietly and tied the game again in the 87th minute when Kelsey Holbert hit a one-time shot on a long ball to draw the contest even. The Panthers then tallied the game's decisive goal in the 90th minute when Kelly Lewers hit a shot from the right side that got past the Oakland defense, leaving little time for an Oakland response.

"Overall, I am super pleased with the team's performance this season," Morgan said. "We played strong throughout the year; we were just a little short of finishing the game today."

Milwaukee finished with a 21-16 shots advantage for the game, as Oakland out-fired the Panthers 12-7 in the second half. Milwaukee goalkeepers Lincicum and Natalie Fettinger combined for nine saves, while Oakland's O'Shea registered five stops. The contest and its combined seven goals scored was the second-highest scoring game in league championship finals history.

2013 Horizon League All-Tournament Team
Ashley Gogolin, Wright State
Liz Soto, Wright State
Alyssa Riley, Detroit
Kaitlyn Quarrell, Detroit
Meghan Reynolds, Oakland
Kyla Kellermann, Oakland
Abigail Haelewyn, Oakland
Krissy Dorre, Milwaukee
Kelsey Holbert, Milwaukee
Maria Stephans, Milwaukee
Kelly Lewers, Milwaukee (MVP)

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