In dramatic fashion, Wisconsin came away with as close at it gets to a soccer buzzer beater.
With just a second left in the second and final overtime, sophomore midfielder Christopher Mueller delivered the game’s lone goal to give the Badgers (1-4-0 overall, 1-0-0 Big Ten) their first victory of the season in Friday’s Big Ten opener.
After being on the losing end of a pair of one-goal matches a week earlier, UW appeared headed for a draw in this one. But as time was set to expire, sophomore forward Tom Barlow set up Mueller, who was able to redirect it off a defender on a desperation attempt toward the net.
For the sophomore, who now leads the team with three points, it was his first career goal in 21 games.
To even have a chance to win, the Badgers had to withstand a furious attack from the Scarlet Knights (2-2-0, 0-1-0). Rutgers launched 21 shots from the second half on and 27 shots in all, including 10 on goal. In comparison, UW had just 12 total and two on net. Sophomore goalkeeper Adrian Remeniuk, making his first start of the season, stopped all 10 to record the third shutout of his collegiate career.
Rutgers appeared to be the more disciplined side for much of the match, as the Badgers committed all four of the game’s offsides calls and earned three yellow cards. Wisconsin was able to settle down as time went on though, playing a clean end of the second half and overtime.
“Congrats to all the guys on this win. I’m just really proud of them,” head coach John Trask said after the win. “I don’t want to single any one person out. I told the men after the game that this was the kind of performance that makes the athletic program and the school proud. It was tight and it was gritty, but the guys battled. This was a total team performance.”
After suffering through a disappointing 2014 campaign that featured just three wins, Friday’s win marked a series of firsts in over a year for the Badgers. Following last season’s 0-7-1 showing, it was Wisconsin’s first Big Ten victory since the 2013 season. It was also the program’s first overtime win since Sept. 8, 2013 and its first true road win since defeating Northwestern on Nov. 3, 2013.
The Badgers will look to keep the positive momentum going, as they complete their four-game road swing with a match at St. John’s next weekend. They’ll get over a week off, with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
