SUU Athletics Strategic Communications
The Southern Utah University soccer team played their seventh consecutive road game Sunday afternoon against the unbeaten Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. The Panthers posted their eighth consecutive shutout, as the Thunderbirds failed to score for just the second time this season in a 6-0 loss in Milwaukee.
“The biggest positive for me right now is that we are done with the ridiculous part of our travel schedule. The fact of the matter is that we have had a grueling road schedule and it does take its toll,” head coach Fred Thompson said. “Milwaukee is a strong, solid team and it was always going to be a challenge coming in here. I do think we created some great opportunities in the first half and we were just a bit unlucky. It would have been interesting to see how the game would have turned out had we been able to notch one of those goals.”
The Panthers struck early in this one and never looked back. They scored three first-half goals, scoring in the sixth, 25th, and 30th minutes. The Thunderbirds took five shots in the first half, but couldn’t find their way into back of the net.
The Panthers doubled their lead in the second half, scoring in the 47th, 48th, and 76th minutes of play to make it 6-0 UWM. That would eventually be the final score of the game as the Thunderbirds could not get on the board in the second half.
“Even in some of these performances that aren’t quite where we want them to be, there are glimpses of where we are headed as a soccer team,” Thompson said. “We are keeping the ball down, stringing several passes together, and changing the form of attack on the fly. We are also getting the opportunity to play a lot of people which will make it less of a surprise when we reach conference play and everyone is asked to play.”
The Thunderbirds will play their first home match next Sunday, August 17th, against Florida Atlantic University. It will be their first and only home non-conference matchup of 2017. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
“It will be a nice change for us to be able to play just one game in a weekend,” Thompson said. “I am expecting us to have a lot of energy and it will be nice to be home and be able to support the other teams that will be at home next weekend.”
Stay up to date during the 2017 Thunderbird Soccer season by following @SUUSoccer on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Soccer page on Facebook.
