[media-credit name=’GREGORY DIXON/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]The University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team was looking to end its winless streak in October against nonconference opponent Oakland University Wednesday night at the McClimon Soccer Complex.

The Oakland Grizzlies (8-5-2 overall, 4-0 Summit), however, were intent on spoiling the Badgers’ chances of rattling off three straight wins before their Big Ten tournament appearance.

On a brisk afternoon, the Grizzlies were able to stun the Badgers with a 3-2 victory and drop UW’s record to 5-6-5 overall.

The game started well for the Badgers, who controlled the tempo from the opening kickoff. The Badgers drew first blood in the 14th minute, when senior midfielder Nick Coronna scored on a header after receiving an immaculate pass from teammate Victor Diaz off of a restart.

“I saw [Coronna] come through and I just put it right there, and he put it away,” Diaz said.

However, in an all too familiar scene, the Badgers were unable to hold onto their early lead. A mere two minutes after Coronna’s goal, Oakland midfielder Piotr Nowak scored an unassisted goal from 20 yards out when his shot redirected off of a UW defender’s foot.

For the majority of the first half, the Badgers were able to stave off numerous scoring opportunities by the Grizzlies, despite missing starting goalkeeper Alex Horwath. Horwath remained on the sideline nursing an abdominal injury he suffered in the team’s tie with Penn State Oct. 20. Horwath was replaced by redshirt freshman Ryan Vint, who had appeared in only one game before Wednesday’s contest.

It was not an easy day in goal for the young keeper, who faced 13 shots by the Grizzlies in the first half alone.

As the first half was winding to a close, the UW defense looked lackadaisical and seemed to have their thoughts focused on halftime adjustments. With six seconds to play in the first half, Grizzlies midfielder Endre Osnes was able to sneak a shot past Vint after receiving a pass from Martin Sandell off a restart.

The gut-wrenching goal left a sour taste in the Badgers’ mouths as they headed into halftime trailing a less talented team.

“There is no way we should give up a goal 10 seconds before the half,” UW head coach Jeff Rohrman said. “I thought that was a critical point for us because I think if we had gone into halftime tied, even despite not playing that well, we could have sorted some things out.”

The goal before halftime knocked the Badgers into a daze that they never seemed to find their way out of, and the Grizzlies looked the more confident team in the second half. In the 57th minute, Oakland’s Endre Osnes was able to light up the scoreboard once again when he blasted a shot far post after receiving a through ball from teammate Piotr Nowak.

The Badgers began to play with a new sense of urgency after Oakland’s third goal and began their unrelenting attack on the Grizzlies’ defense. In the 70th minute, UW’s sophomore forward Brian Bultman squeaked a shot past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Steve Clark after getting a pass from Aaron Nichols. His goal narrowed the Grizzlies lead to one goal with less than twenty minutes to play.

However, despite out-shooting Oakland 8-3 in the second half, the Badgers were unable to tie the game and walked off of their home field a dejected team.

“I thought it was embarrassing. We didn’t come to play,” Coronna said. “Our play was nowhere near our high level, and we all came out and thought we were going to win, and when we showed up, we didn’t give any heart.”

Victor Diaz, who managed only two shots, mirrored Coronna’s disgust.

“Everything was bad. We didn’t bring the heart, we didn’t bring the attitude and we underestimated this team,” Diaz said. “We played into their game. Their game was playing long balls, and that is not our game.”

“I thought we started out well,” Rohrman said. “Coronna scored a nice goal and looked like we were going to have a good day, and then we had a bit of a stumble and I don’t think we reacted too well to that setback. I thought our concentration let down a little bit, and our focus, and they punished us for it.”

It will be critical for the men’s team to learn from last night’s heartbreaking loss to Oakland before heading to East Lansing, Mich., for the Big Ten tournament Nov. 8. Hopefully, the Badgers will be playing with a chip on their shoulder for the rest of the season as they continue to battle for a berth in the NCAA tournament.