Despite playing before a large crowd on a day where Wisconsin’s 1995 national championship team was honored, the Badgers were no match for the for the No. 11 Maryland Terrapins, losing 4-1 in the contest.
Wisconsin let up two early goals that set the pace for the game. The early Terrapin goals were scored by freshman forward Sebastian Elney and senior midfielder Mael Corboz. Corboz ripped a 25-yard shot that beat Wisconsin keeper Adrian Remeniuk just five minutes into the match.
“I thought we competed but at the beginning we let up those two goals and they were soft and our defence fell apart and gave them some possession,” sophomore forward Tom Barlow said after the game. “Like I said, they’re a top-ranked team so hats off to them. I thought we competed but we have to clean up some mistakes and get a little bit better.”
Wisconsin scored its first home goal of the season thanks to nice passing and a clean finish by Barlow. His goal was scored in the eighth minute and put the Badgers down by one. This was Barlow’s first goal and second point of the season after receiving Big Ten All-Freshman honors in 2014.
The Terrapins were fast with and without the ball and won nearly every 50-50 ball that was in the air during the course of the game.
Though the early deficit was too much for them to overcome, the Badgers played tough, finishing with nine shots and six corner kicks.
“Maryland is a good team and you’ve got to give them credit for that performance. I don’t think they were that many goals better than us,” Barlow said of the 4-1 final score. “Still, I definitely think it’s a reality check. Playing a top-ranked team like that, we got exposed in a lot of areas and we know what we need to work on in training.”
The 1995 UW team was welcomed by a huge crowd at halftime for a 20-year anniversary celebration of their national championship season.
“The crowd was awesome. Having this many people for warm-ups really pumped us up,” senior captain Drew Conner said. “I think it was probably one of our biggest attendances since I’ve been here in my four years.
The Badgers conclude a three-game homestand at the McClimon Soccer Complex Wednesday, when they square off against in-state rival Green Bay at 7 p.m.
