The Wisconsin men's soccer (11-10-1) team fell to top-seeded and eventual Big Ten Champion Indiana 1-0 in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament this past weekend in Bloomington, Ind.
\Our guys played with a lot of confidence,"" said UW Head Coach Jeff Rohrman. ""And that was good to see because there are a lot of teams that come here in this environment in Indiana and are beat before they even get on the field. I was pleased to see our guys meet that challenge and come out and compete from the first whistle to the last.""
Wisconsin and Indiana played to a scoreless tie for all of the first half and much of the second half until IU midfielder Pat Yates found the back of the net for the game-winning goal in the 79th minute on an assist from forward Ned Grabavoy.
The Hoosiers dominated much of the game as they outshot Wisconsin 17-7, including a dominating second half where the Badgers managed just one shot to Indiana's 11. Wisconsin also only managed one shot on goal, while Indiana was able to put nine shots on goal. That shot came midway through the first half when junior forward Jed Hohlbein's shot was saved by Indiana goalkeeper Jay Nolly.
A big reason Wisconsin was even in the game was the stellar play of junior goalkeeper and second-team all-Big Ten selection Eric Hanson and the UW defense. Hanson turned away an onslaught of Indiana attacks and recorded seven saves in the loss.
""I have to give a lot of credit to Eric Hanson,"" Rohrman said. ""I thought he demonstrated that he is one of the best goalkeepers in not only the conference but also this region.""
Freshman defender Aaron Hohlbein, who was named first-team Big Ten Freshman of the Year and second-team all-Big Ten, made a great team save in the 81st minute to keep the game at 1-0. However, Wisconsin was not able to score the equalizer in the final 10 minutes.
Indiana went on to play six-seeded Penn State in the Big Ten Championship and defeated the Nittany Lions on penalty kicks. After playing to a 1-1 tie through regulation, Indiana knocked off Penn State 4-1 on penalty kicks. Indiana's championship is its tenth Big Ten Tournament Championship since 1991. They have also captured eight straight Big Ten regular season titles.
-compiled from staff reports
