Following a 2-0 loss to the USL’s Minnesota Thunder last Sunday in La Crosse, the Wisconsin men’s soccer team closes out the competitive portion of its spring schedule in Milwaukee for a tournament hosted by Marquette.
“We had a little bit of a letdown I thought against the Thunder,” Rohrman said. “We still created a couple of good chances. Yet, at the same time, I thought that we could have done a little bit better in terms of keeping the ball, playing and thinking a little bit quicker and keeping a little bit more composure under the pressure.”
Wisconsin will take on a trio of teams, with matches scheduled against Lewis College of Chicago, University of Illinois-Chicago and host Marquette. The tournament will take place at Valley Fields, home of the Golden Eagles.
“It’s a good way for us to play some decent teams,” Wisconsin head coach Jeff Rohrman said. “Obviously, we do know Marquette, but UIC, we hadn’t played this past year, and Lewis we haven’t played for a while. So, we’ll see a little different styles and a couple different teams we haven’t played in a while.”
Wisconsin was similarly slated to compete in the spring tournament last season, but withdrew one day before following injuries to all three of its goalkeepers (then-senior Eric Hanson and current Badgers Jake Settle and Mike Hood). Barring any last minute snafus, the Badgers should get the chance to take the pitch this year in Milwaukee.
UW closes out its spring season just over two weeks from now with a match against the team’s alumni. Last season, the UW alumni squad bested the Badgers behind goals from former captain Erol Goknur and Valentine Anozie. However, the contest is not likely to feature the same game intensity of even a standard spring match.
Wisconsin will continue to search for offense in the absence of last year’s senior scoring duo of Nick Van Sicklen and Jed Hohlbein. However, Rohrman is excited by the dearth of young goal-scoring talent found on this year’s club. Wisconsin will look to capitalize on that offensive balance in this weekend’s tournament.
“Certainly this weekend, I want to finish on a high note and play some good soccer and finish off some chances,” Rohrman said.
