The Badgers (4-2-1 overall, 2-1-0 conference) defeated Saint Louis (1-4-3 overall, 0-0-0 conference) Tuesday night 2-0 for the team’s third win in four games.
Junior forward Christopher Mueller scored an impressive, dipping free kick—his third strike of the season—just after the 11th minute. Then junior midfielder Mike Catalano sealed things up inside the 73rd minute with a well-taken volley.
Mueller, who missed two free kick opportunities against Penn State, talked about forgetting his mistakes.
“I scored a couple of free kick goals last year so I’ve been itching to score one,” Mueller said. “I just had to file the last two. The second one at Penn State was pretty close, but I had a feeling that tonight I was going to bury one and I just stepped up and did it.”
Aside from Mueller’s goal, the Badgers were at times a little toothless in the first period, failing to create another good chance and often looking disjointed in attack.
However, things improved in the second half, and the Badgers began to put more pressure on the Billikens. Catalano shot over from just outside the box, and freshman midfielder Mitch Guitar shot wide after an incisive, probing run.
Wisconsin finally doubled their lead inside the 73rd minute, as senior midfielder Brian Hail played a back-door through ball to redshirt sophomore forward Isaac Schlenker. He delivered a hard cross right on the foot of Catalano and the midfielder put away his second of the season.
According to head coach John Trask, Catalano’s goal and the team’s second half performance were the results of a slight tactical shift at halftime.
“We asked our guys to pressure their three backs a little bit higher,” Trask said. “I think once we went up 1-0 in the first half it’s a little natural that they’re going to push a little and we were playing smart. I told the guys at halftime to up the pressure, draw a little bit of a higher line and I thought we did a very nice job of that in the second half, and that’s what ultimately led to us getting the second goal and some other great chances.”
The win was by far Wisconsin’s easiest and most straightforward of the season, as it conceded just one shot on goal and looked largely untroubled on defense, with the exception of a couple of set pieces.
Additionally, Wisconsin wasn’t flawless going forward, but certainly looked better in the second half, while Mueller was impressive with his hold-up play amongst the blue shirts around him.
Next up for the Badgers is Rutgers (0-7-1 overall, 0-3-1 conference), who have lost seven games this season but are coming off a 0-0 tie vs. No. 6 Indiana.
Trask isn’t taking this contest lightly.
“It’s going to be an absolute battle,” Trask said. “All of our Big Ten games have gone to overtime, I don’t expect it to be easy in any sense of the word.”
Trask can’t be blamed for giving a political answer, but he knows his team is the favorite going into Saturday, and will thus be looking for their third conference win of the season.
