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[/media-credit]It isn't often that a goal the other team scores ignites your offense, but that was the case Wednesday night, as the UW men's soccer team put on an offensive show in the first half to beat Northern Illinois 4-0.
In what could only be described as a very unfortunate sequence of events for the Huskies, a low shot in the game's 18th minute from UW senior forward Dirk Pearson was deflected by a NIU defender and ended up in the back of the net.
Senior forward Brandon Miller, who had passed the ball to Pearson, was thankful for the fortunate bounce.
"It was nice to finally have one of those lucky rolls go our way for once," Miller said. "We had come out pretty flat to start the game, so getting that first tally was big for our confidence moving forward."
The score came on one of the first shots for the Badgers, who had up until that point done very little offensively.
Not long after the game started, however, Wisconsin lost one of its most important players in sophomore midfielder Pablo Delgado, who came up hurting after taking an early free kick. Without Delgado, the offense suddenly found itself in need of a playmaker. Lucky for them, Pearson was up to the challenge.
Pearson, who didn't start the game, made his presence known almost immediately upon stepping foot on the field, ripping a shot from about 30 yards that rattled the crossbar.
"Dirk can really pull the trigger from a lot of places on the field," head coach Jeff Rohrman said. "Good things happen when you can get a shot on frame, and that's what he started to do right away. It was very fortunate to get the deflection, but it was a good way for us to get the offense started in the right direction."
It didn't take long at all for the next strike to come, as a little less than 10 minutes later, Miller found himself with room near the Huskies' goal. This time, however, the sophomore snaked his way across the field before drilling a shot into the top right corner of the goal, sending the bench into a frenzy.
Following the second goal, the Badgers seemed to come alive, pummeling the NIU goalie with shot after shot.
"I think that after that first goal, we were able to compose ourselves and start becoming more dangerous going forward," Rohrman said. "This was about as complete of a performance as we have had all year."
Pearson and Miller were not done yet, though. With about 10 minutes left in the half, the duo again went to work on the NIU defense, creating a two-versus-one mismatch that led to another Pearson goal, his sixth as a Badger.
"[Pearson] was definitely ready to play tonight," Rohrman said. "Early on in the game, he was ready when his number was called, and he showed tonight why he is one of our best passing forwards. His skills on the ball and his abilities to set people up and made things happen tonight."
Almost overlooked in the offensive barrage was the continued stellar play of junior goalkeeper Alex Horwath, who recorded his sixth shutout in only eight collegiate starts. The keeper was quick to credit his teammates, however.
"A shutout streak is much more of a team streak than just a goalie streak," Horwath said. "I only had to make four saves today. Our offense has been able to take a lot of pressure off of us in the back these past couple of games, but when we have needed it, the back line has played unbelievably."
Wednesday night's offensive production — which was bolstered in the second half by a Miller-assisted breakaway goal by sophomore Bryan Gerster — has been on the upswing since this past weekend, when the team scored more than one goal for the first time this season in a 2-2 tie with Michigan.
"The team was very determined tonight to get the result we wanted, and I think it showed in their tremendous work rate on both sides of the ball," Rohrman said.
With a record of 5-2-0, the men's team must now look ahead to Sunday's showdown with Michigan State, a contest that could provide plenty of offensive fireworks for the crowd at the McClimon Complex.
