In an emotional rollercoaster of a match Tuesday, the Wisconsin men's soccer team dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to UW-Green Bay in front of a packed house honoring the Badger seniors during their final match at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
Despite claiming the lead twice, Wisconsin was defeated by a beautiful goal in the 82nd minute by UW-GB forward Dan O'Brien. While receiving a surgical through-ball from Lati Ziba, O'Brien timed his run perfectly and made the most of his one-on-one opportunity with Wisconsin goalkeeper Jake Settle by lofting the ball over Settle's head and into the back of the net to seal the victory.
The Badgers have lost two matches in a row and Wisconsin head coach Jeff Rohrman admits he is a little frustrated with the results. At the same time though, Rohrman also maintains he has absolute faith in his team's potential and knows his squad can be successful in the upcoming weeks.
"It certainly hurts, it stings and it's a little frustrating," Rohrman said. "But, as I told the guys, I believe in them, and I know that the talent is here to get on a good run and put some things together."
After dominating play in a scoreless first half, a determined Wisconsin squad exploded out of its halftime conference and took charge in the second half
"Well, I certainly thought we had [the game] in control through the first half," Rohrman said. "We did enough to win the game, we just didn't put the icing on the cake — we didn't put it away when we had a chance to. We talked about being aggressive and going at them and continuing to press and so forth at halftime, and they certainly responded [in the second half]."
Being Senior Day, it was only fitting that a couple of seniors opened the scoring in the 47th minute. After receiving a pass from William Bagayoko near the edge of the goal area, Reid Johnson took a touch toward the middle of the field and curled a shot from 20 yards out into the lower right corner past the outstretched hand of a diving UW-GB goalkeeper.
Just two minutes later, however, the Badger's squandered their lead following a mistake in the defensive third that allowed UW-GB striker Mike McCormack to bend a shot from the left flank into the upper-ninety at the far post.
"I was a little disappointed with the letdown after Reid scored," Rohrman said. "I thought we should have done a little better in not giving them that chance. [The goal] was a good shot, it came off of a mistake we made in the back — a situation that we could have done better with, but I thought [McCormack] hit a good shot into the corner, and I give him credit."
Although the Badgers regained the lead in the 57th minute when freshman Pablo Delgado ripped a volley from 25 yards out, the Phoenix converted a penalty kick following a handball in the box by Wisconsin midfielder Erik Ortega in the 72nd minute to equalize for the second time.
Because the handball was interpreted as a deliberate attempt to prevent a goal, Ortega received a red card for the infraction and the Badgers were reduced to ten men for the remainder of the match — a predicament that ultimately proved to be tragic.
Despite having to play without the services of Ortega in the team's next match against No. 9 Indiana this Friday, Rohrman's squad remains excited for the important clash with the Hoosiers. The two teams are currently tied for first place in the Big Ten with only each other left to play in conference and the victor will raise the Big Ten trophy and claim the conference title.
"Our guys still have a chance to win the Big Ten Championship — and that's something they've worked very hard for this season," Rohrman said. "They let one get away from them [Tuesday] … but the nice thing is that we can put it behind us with a good result on Friday against IU. It's not going to be an easy task by any means, but I think we're a talented enough team to go down there and get a result."