The last-place Northwestern men’s soccer team has had nothing to lose all season and has come out and played hard against their Big Ten opponents. Saturday’s game against Wisconsin at the McClimon Soccer Complex was no different for the Big Ten’s cellar-dwellers. The two teams played tough from the first whistle, but the Badgers prevailed 1-0 to finish the Big Ten season with a 3-3 record.
“This team is hard to play against,” said head coach Jeff Rohrman. “If you look at their results, they’ve been in every game and they defend very, very well. They are a tough team to break down and penetrate, because they are so disciplined defensively.”
The strength of the NU defense was undeniable. The Badgers struggled to put the ball in the back of the net, but finally got a game-winning goal in the 86th minute from true freshman Phil Doeh.
The goal was Doeh’s sixth of the season. Sophomore Noah Goerlitz got the assist, the hard-working midfielder’s first point of the season. Goerlitz’s shot was redirected by Doeh into the upper corner of the goal, and Wildcat keeper J.D. Martin had no chance to make the stop.
“We were getting a little frustrated, but with 10 minutes left to go we had to give it our all,” explained Doeh. “Just to see that goal go in, I mean, that’s a relief.”
“I give our guys a lot of credit. I told them all week that they were going to have to be patient, persistent, not get frustrated, and hey, it paid off,” said Rohrman.
Northwestern was out-shot by the Badgers 21-7, but five of its seven shots were on goal. Both teams has good chances, as this game became a battle of which team could finally put one of them away. For the Badgers, sophomore keeper Eric Hanson got his fifth shutout of the season on five saves.
Martin also had a strong day in goal for the Wildcats with six saves. Martin could not stop them all, though, as NU fell to 8-10-0 and 0-5 in the Big Ten.
The Wisconsin seniors were honored before playing in their last home game. Valentine Anozie, Mike Epp, John McGrady, Christian Poppert, Aymar Sinaise, Perry Smith, and Phil Ayoub fittingly got a win in their last game at Wisconsin.
“They were a great group of seniors for me to walk into, and they’ve shown great leadership all year,” praised Rohrman. “I’m extremely proud of them, and they are going to be missed.”
“I wanted to finish on a good note,” said Anozie. “We won!”
After defeating Michigan State last week and Northwestern Saturday, the Badgers have significantly aided their postseason aspirations. The two victories will greatly help the Badgers’ chances of getting a good seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Badgers could finish as high as third place in the conference, depending on the results throughout the Big Ten this week.