MILWAUKEE – Abdu Regassa scored the first goal and helped set up Logan Farrington for the game-winner as the Milwaukee men's soccer team claim a well-played 2-1 victory over Wisconsin Thursday night at Engelmann Stadium.
 
The Panthers (1-2) overcame an early 1-0 deficit to top the Badgers (1-1), a team that came into the game ranked fifth in the National Soccer Coaches Association North Region Poll, in front of a spirited crowd of 1,514 fans.
 
"That's a tough one," head coach Kris Kelderman said about the early UW goal. "We are excited, we want to get off to a good start. We had an awesome crowd here and the environment behind us was loud and we give up a goal early. The response from our guys was as good as it can be. We just had to shrug it off and keep going – there was a lot of time left in the game. And the guys responded with a goal."
 
Regassa made it a new game in the 17^th minute and Farrington's emphatic header in the 59^th minute provided the difference, with the decision accounting for victory No. 100 for Kelderman in his collegiate career.
 
"First things first, I thought we had two brilliant goals," Kelderman said. "At half, we wanted to keep bringing the energy. We wanted to be the aggressor. They are a big physical team, but I think we had the advantage with some quickness – especially with our attacking group going against their big defenders."
 
Milwaukee controlled the final third of the game, nearly putting it away with a third goal in the 83^rd minute. Kasper Davidsson followed up an impressive 360-move after taking a pass from Farrington and fired just wide.
 
The Badgers had one last push as the contest got a bit chippy in the closing seconds, but Quinn Rechner slammed the door, blocking a very solid UW chance right before the horn sounded, starting the celebration on the field.
 
"I thought the guys managed the game really well," Kelderman said. "We were challenged with defensive restarts and this-and-that. And with the Badgers being a big, physical team that they are – the guys stepped up and got a result against an in-state rival in front of a big crowd."
 
The announced crowd of 1,514 ended up just outside of Top 10 attendance marks all-time and the fans were nearly greeted with a goal before the majority were able to find their seats.
 
Raul Medina nearly found lighting in a bottle, sending an opportunity just wide only 24 seconds into the contest.
 
The Badgers used a nice combination of passes to strike first, but Regassa equalized on a pretty goal of his own. Joshua Kidder started the play when he picked up ball at midfield and fed Davidsson. After racing down the left wing and regrouping, he sent service to the far side to Regassa. A touch with the right stopped the ball, a touch with the left found the back of the net to make it 1-1 at 16:45 mark.
 
The winner started with Regassa running down the ball down the right corner. After being pressured by the defense, he got the ball to Johannes Abdulahad, who followed with one of the prettiest balls of the night to the far post. Farrington did the rest, slamming the ball home before celebrating with the UWM students in the front row.
 
For the game, Milwaukee claimed the 13-12 edge in shots, with both teams sending four on target. The Badgers did manage nine of the 13 corner kicks and were whistled for 11 of the 19 fouls. Farrington paced the offense with four shots, while Nick Chiappa made three saves on the night to earn the victory. One of those came in the 41^st minute, making a nifty stop on a tough angle to keep the game at 1-1 at the time.
 
Up next, the squad heads to DeKalb, Illinois Monday to battle Northern Illinois in the first Cup game of the fall. The Panthers and Huskies play for the LeWang Cup in a contest set to kick off at 7 p.m.