[media-credit name=’MATTHEW KUTZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Thanks to two-goal efforts from junior captain Aaron Hohlbein and sophomore midfielder/forward Sho Fujita, the Wisconsin men’s soccer team notched a pair of one-goal victories to take the Big Toe Invitational title last weekend.

Hohlbein tallied both of his goals Friday in a 2-1 comeback to beat UNLV. Fujita notched two goals on Sunday to take down Drake by the same score, with both games coming down to the final minutes.

“[Drake is] a very good team, and I would guess they’re going to be right there come tournament time,” Wisconsin head coach Jeff Rohrman said. “There’s a lot of team spirit, a lot of fight in that group and a lot of talent, and that’s a good combination to have.”

It was a story of missed opportunities early on in Friday’s game. The Badgers outshot UNLV 17-7 in the contest and had some great chances in the first half, but could not convert.

Instead, UNLV took the lead in the 14th minute and held the lead until the 69th minute. With a handball called on the Runnin’ Rebels, the Badgers had a set-piece opportunity from the left side of the field.

Freshman Zack Lambo offered up a great effort to the far post and Hohlbein leapt up through traffic to head the ball home and tie the game 1-1. He avenged an effort just minutes earlier which saw one of his shots get blocked and a rebound effort bank off the right post.

“I thought as a group we responded really well to a challenging, yet somewhat frustrating first half,” Rohrman said. “Because we’re down 1-0, and when you look at the stats, it’s one-way traffic and we should have certainly come away with a little different result at half-time than what it was.”

The game remained tied late into the second half despite a few more chances for Badger forwards in which they could not capitalize.

In the 85th minute, redshirt freshman Victor Diaz, who had been corralled all game in a physical effort, drew a foul in the box, setting up a Badger penalty kick. Hohlbein took advantage of the opportunity, netting his second goal of the game.

“I give our guys credit,” Rohrman said. “They battled, they showed great character and they found a way to get it done and in the past, we haven’t always done that.”

Junior goalie Jake Settle made three saves in the UW season opener, including an excellent effort late in the game to preserve the lead.

Sunday’s game against Drake provided a different style of game, but produced the same score.

The contest saw fewer scoring chances for the Badgers and the teams remained scoreless until late in the first half. In the 41st minute, Fujita got his first goal as a Badger. Hohlbein took a free kick and Christopher Ede headed it on to Fujita, who gave the Badgers their first lead of the game.

Drake had many early chances in the second half, but could not tie the game until the 67th minute when they tied the game 1-1 on a goal by Luke Frieberg.

The two teams battled back and forth through the end of regulation, with the Badger defense and Settle coming through to preserve the tie through 90 minutes, sending the game to sudden-death overtime.

However, once into overtime the Badgers took just 46 seconds to take the game. Again, it was Lambo on the service as he sent the ball in to Reid Johnson, whose flick-on went straight to Fujita and the 5-foot-8 sophomore headed home the game-winning goal.

“It’s great for Sho,” Rohrman said. “It’s nice. Now he can tell people that he actually got a head goal. The shortest guy on the field headed the ball home for the winner.”

The Badgers took the Big Toe title for the first time in three years, and multiple Badgers earned tournament honors. Sho Fujita was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Offensive Player and Hohlbein was named Most Valuable Defensive Player. Both of them, along with Settle and Johnson were named to the all-Tournament team.

The Badgers continue play this weekend at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Classic.