The Wisconsin men’s soccer team (1-1-0 Big Ten, 9-2-1 overall) won their fourth straight game Tuesday night, beating Western Illinois 1-0 on a second-half penalty kick.
In a game the Badgers dominated by outshooting the Leathernecks 27-3, it took until the closing minutes to finally convert.
After controlling the pace in the first half, the Badgers came out in the second half with 20 shots and eight corner kicks.
“We were playing, not poorly in the first half, but not probably up to our level,” head coach John Trask said. “I thought we picked it up after halftime.”
Before the Badgers scored, the game was characterized by close calls and missed opportunities. Early in the second half, senior midfielder Paul Yonga had a shot go too high and bounce off the crossbar. The Badgers hit the crossbar yet again a few minutes later.
Then, in the 69th minute on a corner kick the Badgers appeared to get their first goal, but the referees determined the ball did not fully cross the goal line.
“Ref said he had a good view of it, I don’t question him,” Trask said. “[Redshirt senior midfielder Tomislav] Zadro bent it, looked like he caught the goalkeeper kind of off guard or unaware, the way he kind of pinned it to the post I thought maybe it had gone in. You argue for those, bottom line is the referee was in a good spot, he’s a good referee and he didn’t think it had crossed over the line.”
After continually applying pressure, the Badgers eventually broke through. In the 81st minute Zadro took a rebound from his penalty kick attempt and knocked it in the back of the net.
“It was a bad penalty kick, the goalie saved it,” Zadro said, “but I was lucky it bounced back.”
It was the third goal of the year for Zadro in just his second game back from an injury. The Toronto native had been named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week earlier in the season.
Despite having possession most of the game, this marks the Badgers’ fourth consecutive win by just one goal, and it appeared for a while they might not be able to get the one they needed.
“We’ve all been involved in games in the game of soccer where you’re the dominant team on the field, no one questions that,” Trask said. “Both teams know it, and you just can’t find a goal.”
Tonight was the third shutout of the season for Wisconsin. The Badgers played well defensively, limiting Western Illinois to just one shot on goal.
“We played good, we haven’t had many shutouts on the year, so getting one tonight was obviously a big confidence booster,” junior defender A.J. Cochran said. “It was one of those games where we needed to find a goal, and we couldn’t give up a goal. If we gave up a goal that game, anything could have happened.”
