Although the University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team failed to record a shot on goal for the first 35 minutes of its exhibition match yesterday, the Badgers’ second half performance made up for their slow start as Wisconsin defeated UW-Milwaukee 5-0 at McClimon Soccer Complex Wednesday evening.
Less than a minute after UW-Milwaukee goalie Sam Alexander had to make his first save of the game, freshman Mark Roos turned and fired a shot into the top right corner for the game’s first score. With the other nearby players heading in a different direction off a previous pass, Roos was able to catch the Panthers by surprise. Standing just outside the 18-yard box, Roos fired his shot with no defenders guarding him.
“Everyone was making hard runs,” Roos said. “They just kind of got caught off-guard.”
The Panthers were unable to respond in the first half but managed to create few scoring chances on Badger goalies Ryan Vint and Jamal Habibi. Although starting goalie Alex Horwath sat out during Wednesday’s game, Vint and Habibi were able to put away almost every Panther attack before they could develop.
According to head coach Todd Yeagley, the strategy to use his backups worked perfectly, and helped the team with flexibility for the upcoming fall season.
“We really wanted to get the whole team into the game regardless of the score,” Yeagley said. “I thought they went in and not only maintained it but elevated it.”
With the shutout on Wednesday, the Badgers have held their opponents scoreless over the spring season. Due in large part to the solid defense and goaltending, the Badgers improved their spring record to 2-1.
Midway through the second half, Wisconsin made the most of a free kick opportunity, as freshman Austin Spohn headed in Pablo Delgado’s kick from 30 yards out to give the Badgers an insurance goal.
“My defender was going backside, and I just made a hard run to the front of him,” Spohn said. “Pablo saw me at the right time and had a driven ball right to my head — I just had to stick my head out there.”
Delgado’s strong performance in the spring comes as no surprise to junior Scott Lorenz, last year’s leading scorer on the team.
“Pablo’s been having a great spring,” Lorenz said. “Coach has brought him to do a lot of defensive work, and that’s brought his overall game up a little.”
Lorenz added a goal of his own in the 28th minute to put the Badgers up 3-0. Trailing a long pass, midfielder Colin Monasterio reached and centered the ball before heading out of bounds. Although Panther goalie Ryan German made an initial save, the rebound came directly towards Lorenz, whose open shot by the goalie box was too much for German to handle.
However, according to Lorenz, the team needs to give a solid performance throughout the entire game.
“Maybe our heads weren’t in it — it took us a while to get acquainted with the game,” Lorenz said. “Against any team in college soccer you’ll get punished and you’ll be playing from behind.”
Yeagley, who moved to UW this past semester from Indiana University after former head coach Jeff Rohrman resigned, was a big reason for the quick elevation in intensity and results after the Badgers’ slow start Wednesday.
“We’ve challenged them to raise every bar of their game,” Yeagley said. “Now we’re seeing results.”
Although the fall season is months away, the Badgers are hoping the dominant performance in their last home spring game will carry into their final road games and into the fall.
“Coach Yeagley has changed the whole mentality,” Spohn said. “Everyone is real excited about the upcoming fall season.”
