After scoring four goals in its last outing, the Badgers men's soccer team was shut out Sunday afternoon, losing 3-0 to the Michigan State Spartans in Madison. The Badgers (5-3-2 overall, 0-1-1 Big Ten) out shot the Spartans 16 to eight, but couldn't seem to find the back of the net in the losing effort.
Wisconsin came out strong early on and controlled the tempo of the game. They strung together nice pass plays up field and had chances on goal early on. The ball was in the Badgers' offensive third for the majority of the first half, and the Spartans only had a few breaks where they found themselves near the Badger goal. But those few breaks ended up hurting the Badgers the most.
A quick turnover and a run downfield by the Spartans led to a Michigan State goal from just inside the 18-yard box in the 32nd minute. The Spartans continued their offensive attack, scoring their second goal 45 seconds later after a defensive miscue by a Badger defender. Goalie Alex Horwath had no chance facing the striker on his own, and the Spartans put the ball just inside the post.
I just came out to take away his angle, try and force a mistake, but he just found the post and it bounced in,"" Horwath said. ""Good players can put it away, and that's what he did.""
The game went back-and-forth with the Badgers continuing to posses the ball the majority of the time. Midfielders Dirk Pearson and Taylor Waspi continually had chances on net, but the offense just could not finish. The Spartans scored their third and final goal in the 79th minute on Michigan State leading scorer Doug DeMartin's second goal of the game.
""Everybody made mistakes today, and they punished us for those mistakes,"" Horwath said. ""I definitely think we had the better play for 85 minutes, and I think we are a better team, but it's soccer, it's one of those sports where you have a couple bounces not go your way, and you end up down 3-0.""
The Badgers tied their season-high for goals allowed, letting in three for the second time. Usually stout on defense, the Badgers seemed to lapse mentally a few times, leading to the three goals.
""We are 10 games in, and we've had six shutouts, so [the defense] has definitely showed that they can do it, we have done it,"" head coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""But at the end of the day, we just need to come out a little bit sharper, and maybe this game will serve as a bit of a wake up call.""
The Badgers will get their next chance to redeem themselves Saturday against Northwestern in Evanston.
""We just have to get a bit sharper going forward and clean up defensively, and those are things we will work on this week getting ready for Northwestern,"" Rohrman added.
