The Wisconsin men's soccer team kept the high-powered offense of UW-Green Bay in check for most of the night, but failed to find the back of the net and lost 1-0 Wednesday night in Green Bay after allowing a goal late in the game.
The Badgers, who were denied the chance to string together back-to-back wins for the first time this season, were shut out for the fourth time in five games.
The Badgers, who fell to 3-6-2 with the loss, knew what caliber of offensive attack they were up against. The Phoenix (10-1-2) came into the game ranked second in the country in scoring average. UW-Green Bay racked up 33 goals in the first 12 matches of the season, good for 2.75 goals per game. That trailed only undefeated and unanimously top-ranked Akron, a squad that has poured in goals at a clip of three per game so far this season.
Wisconsin has been on the opposite end of that spectrum for much of the season. The offense showed signs of life Sunday afternoon against Michigan State, as senior forward Scott Lorenz scored twice and led the Badgers to a 2-1 double overtime victory.
Besides that outburst, the Badger offense has been eerily quiet for much of the season. When Lorenz tallied his first goal on Sunday, it ended a scoreless streak that had topped 300 minutes and spanned parts of four games. Nonetheless, the offense seemed to find its stride in time to match up with the Phoenix.
On Wednesday night in Green Bay, the Badgers put five shots on frame but were turned away each time by Phoenix freshman goalkeeper Ryan Wehking. Junior forward Brian Gerster led the attack for the Badgers, registering four shots in the contest.
The Badgers kept the UW-Green Bay offense quiet until the 74th minute, when senior forward Francois Basty collected a rebound in front of the net and put home a close-range shot.
The goal was one of six shots put on target by the Phoenix. Senior goalkeeper Alex Horwath finished with five saves for the Badgers.
Prior to Wednesday's loss, the Badgers had won six consecutive matches against the three main in-state opponents: Green Bay, UW- Milwaukee and Marquette. It is also the first time that Wisconsin has lost to UW-Green Bay since 2002.
Following Wednesday's loss, the Badgers will travel to Evanston to take on the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday for a Big Ten matchup.
The Wildcats (6-1-4) are ranked No. 16 in the latest national polls and have the No. 1 RPI in the country.
After that short trip, the Badgers return home for their longest home stand of the season. Wisconsin will not play a road game for 10 days, and will host Marquette, Ohio State and Northern Illinois before venturing out of Madison.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
