The Wisconsin men’s soccer team salvaged a weekend split as both Jed and Aaron Hohlbein scored second half goals in a 2-1 victory over Drake Sunday afternoon. Friday evening the Badgers dropped a close game with No. 16 Creighton 2-1. The Badgers kept their record even at 3-3-0.
After battling to a scoreless draw throughout the first half of the game, Wisconsin came out early in the second half and took the lead. Senior Jed Hohlbein slotted a cross from classmate Noah Goerlitz into the back of the net giving the Badgers the early lead.
The Bulldogs leveled the match only a minute and a half later when Ryan Samuelson scored off a double assist from Jess Richey and Matt Nickell.
The Badgers would not be denied the win, though, as Aaron Hohlbein came to the rescue, scoring in the 74th minute. Hohlbein, who had pushed forward on a free kick, was able to find a ball after a scramble in the box and put it past the Drake keeper for the 2-1 lead. Freshman midfielder Erik Ortega was given an assist on the play.
The Badger defense dug-in down the stretch keeping the Bulldogs at bay. Even when Drake was able to find a crease, senior goalkeeper Eric Hanson was up to the task. His best save of the game came just a minute from the end of the game when he was forced to make a crucial intervention to preserve the one-goal lead.
“Our guys bounced back well from a tough, disappointing loss against Creighton,” said head coach Jeff Rohrman. “We showed a lot of character and resilience against a good Drake team.”
Wisconsin’s opening game of the weekend didn’t go nearly as well as Creighton. Was the team to come up with the late goal for the 2-1 victory.
The Blue Jays struck first, when freshman Tim Bohnenkamp curled a corner kick into the net just six minutes into the game.
Wisconsin equalized in the 22nd minute when Nick Van Sicklen scored his second goal of the season. The senior took a through ball from Jed Hohlbein and slipped the ball in the lower left-hand corner past a diving Creighton goaltender.
For the next 60 minutes, it appeared that the Badgers and Blue Jays would play to a draw, but a corner kick in the 81st minute turned to gold for the home team. Vince Odorisio swung the corner into the Badger box, finding Kama Bennah who headed home the winner.
It was a disappointing end to a game Wisconsin had every opportunity to win.
“We played OK. I thought our performance was good at times,” said head coach Jeff Rohrman about the difficult loss. “For periods of the game we played pretty good soccer, but we couldn’t reward ourselves.”
–Compiled from staff reports
