ROCHESTER, Mich. – In the second match between the sides in just over two weeks, No. 3 seed IUPUI gave up two first half goals to No. 2 seed Green Bay in the #HLMSOC tournament semifinal Thursday evening (Nov. 9). Despite getting a goal back halfway through the second stanza, the Jaguars were unable to find an equalizer, falling 2-1.

"It was a game of two halves. I think Green Bay was better on the ball in the first half, and even though we wanted to compete from the start, I felt like we didn't really do that," said head coach Sid van Druenen following the match. "In the second half we changed some things and I think the guys showed good spirit and fight, and I think it's been like that all year, but unfortunately we weren't able to put together a complete 90 minute performance."

Green Bay (9-3-5, 5-2-2 HL) came into the match riding high, having won four straight and five of its last seven. The Phoenix offense had been humming, averaging over two goals per game, including a 3-1 victory over Horizon League regular season champ Oakland.

On the other side, IUPUI (7-7-5, 4-2-3 HL) struggled to find results in the back half of the season, but leaned on its defense that only gave up more than one goal once in its past seven contests—coming against Green Bay on Oct. 21.

Both goalkeepers came up huge for their squads early, with Tobias Jahn and Lucas Morefield each making difficult saves in the opening 15 minutes of play. Morefield made the match's first big stop, denying a shot from Christoph Schurz inside the box. A few minutes later, Jahn, the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year, did well to keep the Jaguars off the board, turning away a powerful effort from Josemir Gomez.

In the best scoring chance of the first half, the Phoenix capitalized on the counterattack, with Keegan Walker calmly passing the ball into the back of the net after Jaden Prado played him in behind the Jaguar back line. Less than ten minutes later, the advantage would be stretched to two following a brilliant individual effort by Andrew Paolucci. After splitting two defenders, the junior used the outside of his left boot to beat Morefield just before the half.

Needing two goals, van Druenen switched to three at the back to begin the second half to get more players forward. One of the subs who came in at the break was freshman Baela Brucker, who proved crucial in the second 45.

After an opening 15 minutes without much success moving forward, IUPUI reached another gear with 30 minutes remaining. Following a clearance by the Green Bay defense, Dominic Breidenbach received the ball in the defensive half and made a lengthy run through the defense. The ball eventually found its way to the feet of Gomez who sent it out wide to Brucker. The Albuquerque, New Mexico native lofted a ball over all the defenders inside the six to the back post where a leaping Logan Finnegan headed it into the back of the net to pull the team within a goal. The tally was Finnegan's fifth of the campaign and Brucker's first career assist.

With just under five minutes remaining, Gomez received a cross from Edgar Correia and connected with the ball cleanly but sent it just over the bar. The attempt proved to be the final scoring chance for the Jags, with the Phoenix defense holding strong to secure the 2-1 triumph and a spot in the final on Saturday.