Two days after the Wisconsin Men's soccer team played to a scoreless draw against Virginia Tech, Western Illinois seemed poised to send the Badgers into extra time again Sunday.
Sophomore forward Mark Roos, however, had other ideas.
After a penalty call on the right wing with 10 seconds to go, fellow sophomore midfielder Austin Spohn set the ball down, took a hurried step back and sent a long volley toward the back post. Roos found room amid the chaos in front of the goal, timed his leap, got his head on the ball and sent it to the back of the net with three seconds remaining, lifting the Badgers to a 1-0 win.
Roos, a Wilmette, Ill., native, knew he had a chance to make a play on the ball and made the most of the sudden opportunity.
""I just saw the scoreboard and it said 10 seconds when I saw Spohn set it up,"" he said. ""I knew this was the last play and something had to happen. I just tried to get this big head on it.""
He succeeded, and the Badgers finished their opening weekend 1-0-1, doing so without giving up a goal. Wisconsin finished second in the Middleton Sports and Fitness Invite, as Virginia Tech took home the title, scoring a 2-1 advantage over the Badgers in goals for, the fifth tiebreaker.
Roos' first career goal secured the first career win as a collegiate head coach for Wisconsin's Todd Yeagley.
He said after the game that nothing from his illustrious playing career could have prepared him for the way his first coaching win came about.
""I don't know if we could have scripted it much better with that finish,"" he said. ""I would have loved to have a result on Friday, but coming out this weekend, not giving up a goal, I'm pretty pleased.""
The back-to-back shutouts posted by Wisconsin this weekend were numbers 14 and 15 in the career of senior goalkeeper Alex Horwath. After the win, Howath was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the tournament. The rest of the Badgers defense was equally as good, snuffing out Western Illinois' offense and allowing only two shots on goal, a feat Horwath was quick to point out.
""I didn't have to do anything today. I got to watch 90 minutes of soccer,"" Horwath said. ""They were awesome; they deserve all the credit in the world.""
