The Cougars of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville pounced on the dismal performance of the Badgers, leaving Madison with a 2-0 victory Tuesday night.
Wisconsin never recovered from going down 1-0 right before the intermission, and the Badgers fall to 2-5-0 on the season with a tough test against Big Ten soccer powerhouse Maryland Sunday.
Wisconsin Player of the Game: Drew Conner
The senior captain had one of his better outings of the season in spite of the lackluster display of the rest of the team. Conner did well to pull the strings in the midfield, always acting as the orchestrator to any UW attack. The midfielder also produced one stinging volley on goal, the only shot on goal of the game for the Badgers.
SIUE Player of the Game: Devyn Jambga
The Zimbabwe native opened the scoring for the Cougars right before halftime. He headed the ball right past Adrian Remeniuk to provide what would be the game-winning goal. The sophomore forward had three shots overall, with two going on goal.
Turning Point
With two minutes to play in the first half, Wisconsin defender Enda O’Neill was called for a foul after a late tackle of SIUE’s Mohamed Awad, setting up a free kick for the Cougars on the right wing.
Awad took the ensuing and found SIUE defender Justin Bilyeu at the back post, who headed the ball into the path of Jambga. The Cougars’ forward then calmly headed the ball past UW goalkeeper Remeniuk to open the scoring.
The Badgers were never able to conjure up some McClimon magic and produce an equalizer.
When You Knew It Was Over
Wisconsin spent the majority of the second half looking for the game-tying goal, but was finally caught out on a counter attack in the 87th minute.
SIUE midfielder Ivan Gutierrez played a through ball to fellow midfielder Gabe Christianson, setting up a one-on-one with Remeniuk. The junior slotted the ball past the Wisconsin shot stopper into the lower right corner, and the game was clinched for the Cougars with three minutes left.
Quotable
UW head coach John Trask on the team’s performance:
“You know one shot [on goal] over 90 minutes is not what we expect from this group of players. As I told them — and I’ll take full responsibility — we’ve traveled quite a bit this season, and we just weren’t firing today. Sometimes that just happens. That’s just not what I know these players are capable of.”
Trask on being winless at home so far this season:
“It’s something that obviously hurts to be 0-3 at home. You can go get some great results on the road, but at the end of the day you gotta handle your business at home. We need to learn how to win here. Sometimes it’s a little easier to get a bit more focused when you’re on the road and away from school, and it’s just you and the [team]. With all of our friends here, and family, sometimes that focus can be lost.”
Trask on the upcoming game versus Maryland:
“Maryland’s an excellent program. I think the guys will be ready for that game. We’re going to play with some passion on Sunday; I’ll guarantee you that. We need to play with a little more quality as well, but they’ll be a passion to this team. I know these guys — I believe in these guys — and that wasn’t the Badgers tonight.”
