Saturday
The University of Wisconsin men's soccer team (1-2-1 overall) couldn't recover from an early deficit or a late second half surge as the Florida International Golden Panthers (4-0-0 overall) spoiled the Badgers' home-opener 3-1 on Friday night at the McClimon Soccer Complex. The loss snapped the Badgers' streak of consecutive home-opener wins, dating back to 2007.
“It was a fantastic crowd, great support from the community and the students, the setup of the stadium was great; it was too bad we didn't bring our A-game,” Head Coach John Trask said. “We have some tough questions to ask ourselves as a coaching staff about tacitly how we're playing right now. To give up 10 goals in four games, you can't win in college soccer doing that.”
FIU got on the board first in the 36th minute as junior midfielder Gonzalo Frenchilla, scored an impressive goal from the top of the box that got past a diving attempt from freshmen goalie Chase Rau to take an early lead, 1-0.
Wisconsin quickly answered the bell at the 42:58 mark when sophomore defenseman AJ Cochran was able to convert on a point-blank header off a corner kick from junior forward Chris Prince to tie the score at one. “We designed a pick play so [freshman midfielder Drew Conner] picked my defender and I was sweeping back and [junior forward Chris Prince] put a great ball in and I was right there,” Cochran said about his goal.
As the second half got underway, both defenses held their ground, but the Golden Panthers converted in the 69th minute off the foot of sophomore forward Quentin Albrecht that broke tie. FIU scored an insurance goal in the 78th minute as freshmen midfielder Daniel Gonzalez scored from inside the box to give FIU a 3-1 lead.
Wisconsin did have scoring chances in the second half. Eleven minutes in, freshmen midfielder Andres Kristensen was able to get past FIU's defense but pushed the shot wide left. Another scoring opportunity presented itself later in the half but, Prince was unable to convert.
-Rex Sheild
Sunday
An opportunistic goal by Badger junior defender Paul Yonga and an impressive defensive effort headed up by a young defensive back line allowed the Wisconsin Badger men’s soccer team (1-1-2 overall) to walk away with a 1-1 tie over the No. 13 Georgetown Hoyas (4-0-1 overall).
Georgetown entered the game off to its best start since the 2008 season when they opened that season 5-0 as well. With wins over the Virginia Cavaliers (2-2 overall) and Penn State Nittany Lions (3-1-1 overall), the Hoyas entered Madison as the most formidable opponent the Badgers have faced this season.
“Overall they have a great coaching staff, with a great group of upper classmen,” head coach John Trask said. “To walk away with a result like this shows we can compete with the best teams in the country.”
The Hoyas looked to be on the move early, putting together a nice passing combination across the field in the ninth minute to give senior midfielder Andy Reimer an open shot on goal. Reimer was unable to capitalize though, pulling the shot left off of the post to keep Georgetown off the scoreboard.
“There’s only so much you can do when its just you against an attacker,” freshmen goalkeeper
Chase Rau said. “I did as much as I could to make the goal smaller, and we lucked out when he hit the post.”
Wisconsin was able to break through for the first goal of the game in the 27th minute when a corner kick from junior forward Chris Prince led to a goal by Yonga. With the box crowded with players from both sides, Prince’s kick found freshmen midfielder Anders Kristensen who tapped it over to Yonga for a powerful blast that found the back of the net.
“A great ball by Prince, I got a chance at goal and took it,” Yonga said. “It took a couple deflections to get in, one of the best moments of my college career.”
Georgetown would not go away quietly, ratcheting up the pressure in the second half to try to equalize. With the Badgers at times committing 10 players to defend the box to try to hold onto the lead, the Hoyas would have no luck initially.
The Badgers held firm until the 67th minute when a questionable call on a foul in the box led to a goal from Hoya senior midfielder Ian Christianson. After Georgetown was awarded a penalty kick, the goalkeeper Rau came up with an amazing save on the initial shot by Christianson. Christianson would not be denied though, as he buried the rebound of his own penalty kick into the right corner to even the score.
“Penalty kicks are always a frustration,” Rau said. “I felt pretty confident going to the right and blocking it, all went well there but we just weren’t there for the clearance.”
After neither team could grab the lead in regulation, the game moved to overtime where play opened up considerably. Wisconsin’s best chance to take the win in the sudden death period came in the 103rd minute when a corner kick from Prince almost allowed Yonga to tack on his second goal of the day. After being awarded the corner, Prince’s kick found Yonga for an uncontested header. The chance would bear nothing though, as Yonga’s attempt went high of the goal.
“The ball was right on me, I just couldn’t quite get under it,” Yonga said. “I just sent it over and the ball kind of caught me off guard there.”
Sophomore defender AJ Cochran led a spirited Wisconsin back line, making several quality plays to stifle an athletic rotation of Hoya forwards.
“He’s been really important for us, with his national team experience and dominance in the air,” Trask said. “All the back line guys did a great job of snuffing out there guys and cutting down on [Georgetown’s] chances.”
With the tie the Badgers now look forward to a two game set this upcoming week in Chicago where they will take on Western Illinois (2-3) and IUPUI (2-4).
-Peter Geppert
