The Wisconsin men’s soccer team suffered a crushing 1-3 loss against the Michigan State Spartans on Friday.
The Badgers came into this game with a Big Ten record of 1-0-3 and they looked to tally another win onto their Big Ten record against the Spartans.
The Badgers started the game with an offensive mentality by opting into a 4-2-4 formation. This would prove problematic for Wisconsin as it allowed Michigan State to score three early game goals before the 15 minute mark. With a mixture of indecisiveness, miscalculated passes and early foul calls, Michigan State took advantage of Wisconsin’s mistakes.
Michigan State was awarded a free kick at the six minute mark after a Wisconsin foul just outside of the box. Michigan State defender Jeremy Sharp took the kick and scored.
Three minutes later, Michigan State scored again off of a Wisconsin foul inside of the Badgers’ box. The goal was scored by Michigan State midfielder Sean Kerrigan after he was awarded a penalty kick — this was the first time this season that the Badgers allowed a goal off of a penalty kick.
Michigan State scored again about six minutes later off of a stolen pass from Wisconsin. The stolen pass led to a Michigan State fast break, allowing Michigan State forward Jonathan Stout to score with an assist by Richie Ludwig.
The Badgers remained scoreless in the first half but were able to keep the Spartans out of the net in the last 30 minutes of the first half.
The Badgers had to claw their way back into the game if they wanted to win or tie this matchup and keep their undefeated Big Ten record. They had a glimmer of hope with a goal in the 75th minute by Wisconsin forward Jack Finnegan off of an assist from a cross by midfielder Maxwell Keenan.
That was the last goal of the game, and the Badgers were not able to complete the comeback.
Despite the score, the Badgers had two more shots on goal than Michigan State and doubled the Spartans’ amount of total shots.
Wisconsin is now 1-1-3 against Big Ten opponents this season as they look to continue their tenacious start to the season heading into their matchup against Bradley University on Oct. 9.
