The Badger men's soccer team remained winless in its six last games, tying Penn State 3-3 Saturday night in University Park, Pa. Wisconsin (0-3-2 Big Ten, 5-5-5 overall) has yet to win a Big Ten conference game, but showed good offensive power Saturday, scoring three or more goals for only the second time all season.
The Badgers came out firing, scoring a goal 54 seconds into the game. Sophomore forward Brandon Miller played the ball up to junior forward Victor Diaz, who chipped the ball over the head of the Penn State goalkeeper for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Wisconsin continued to pressure the Nittany Lions offensively early on, scoring their second goal of the game in the sixth minute. Senior midfielder Dirk Pearson played the ball to center on a corner kick, and senior midfielder Nick Caronna finished the play, increasing the Badger lead to 2-0.
But the Nittany Lions found their footing and scored two goals of their own in a span of two minutes.
In the 22nd minute, Penn State converted on a penalty shot and cut the Badger advantage to 2-1.
In the first 15 to 20 minutes we did really well,"" head coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""But the penalty kick in the first half really gave them momentum. We need to do better at using momentum when we have it, and not giving it up.""
Penn State continued to use their momentum in the 24th minute when they ripped a shot past sophomore keeper Alex Horwath to knot the game at 2-2. The rest of the half went scoreless, but neither team was done just yet.
The Nittany Lions came out fast in the second half attacking the Wisconsin goal repeatedly. They found the back of the net in the 47th minute, heading the ball past Horwath off a corner kick.
The Badgers showed resilience and kept themselves in the game, evening the score at 3-3 in the 68th minute on a corner kick. Diaz crossed the ball to center where sophomore midfielder Taylor Waspi headed the ball past the Penn State keeper.
The rest of the game went scoreless, including a 20-minute overtime period.
""I think to sum it up, this game had it all,"" Rohrman said. ""I was really proud of the guys and the effort they put forth.""
Next up for the Badgers is the Oakland Grizzlies, Wednesday afternoon in Madison.
