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Victor Diaz made sure the game was in hand when it had barely begun.

The senior forward put the Badger men’s soccer team (7-6-2) ahead early, scoring 41 seconds into the game after taking a centering pass from Brandon Miller.

“I wasn’t even into the game yet,” the senior forward Diaz said. “It was the best start you could possibly imagine.”

Green Bay (4-7-3) never recovered from the early goal, and UW added another goal before halftime to finish the game’s scoring. The Badgers extended their unbeaten streak to seven games over in-state rivals.

Wisconsin could have had a larger lead than the 2-0 margin they took into halftime. The Badgers dominated possession and had numerous quality chances in the first half. Miller, a senior defender, was unable to connect three times from inside 12 yards, once putting the ball straight over on an open net.

“That’s one thing we need to work on,” Miller said of putting away easy goals. “We did a good job of getting in the first half, especially since we’ve been starting slow a lot. But we definitely need to do a little better … when we get against teams like Penn State who can definitely punch us when they get chances like we did.”

Despite the misses, head coach Jeff Rohrman likes the energy Miller brings to the team. Miller was active all over the field, dropping back to make plays on defense, as well as helping move the offense. His activityveness had a downside, however, as he was taken out for junior Brian Bultman in the 39th minute.

“He just needed some oxygen,” Rohrman said. “He’s been such an inspiration in terms of his work rate. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a goal tonight, but when Brandon’s working like that, other players reap the benefits.”

The benefits were evident even when Miller was on the sideline, as Bultman quickly made an impact, drawing a penalty in the 42nd minute that resulted in UW’s second goal. Diaz took the free kick from 10 yards outside the 18-yard box, finding junior Taylor Waspi, who connected on a header for the score.

“I tried to look for Waspi,” Diaz said of the free kick. “He’s the main target. I was just [trying to see] where he was.”

The Badgers had trouble carrying the momentum from their strong start into the second half. UW did not control the ball as well as it did early in the game, and had to weather late attacks from Green Bay — as well as its own sloppy play at times.

However, Wisconsin played strong defense to post its fifth team shutout. Though the winning goal was scored less than a minute in, Rohrman believes capitalizing on the abundant scoring chances will be a priority heading into the team’s last Big Ten game against Penn State.

“I thought we were a little unfortunate to not get a few more goals,” Rohrman said. “I thought we were buzzing and making things happen. Nonetheless, we did what we needed to … to preserve the win.”