“I think both teams had some good chances, but we had the momentum toward the end,” redshirt freshman defender Danny Ahlering said. “We capitalized really well today.”
Ahlering played all 104 minutes of the game, marking the first time he’s seen the field all season.
Senior Scott Lorenz scored the game-winning goal in the 104th minute when redshirt junior Jon Rzepka found him after an unexpected cut shed off a Michigan State defender.
“Jonny got the ball and it looked like he was going to shoot, but at the last minute he changed his mind — it’s something we had been practicing all week, just trying to be on the same page as an attacking group — and he played an unbelievable ball onto my foot and I was lucky enough to get a toe on it and go through the goal,” Lorenz said.
The Spartans struck first in the fifth minute when midfielder Jeff Ricondo knocked in a 20-yard strike, but the Badgers responded in the 15th minute when Lorenz beat the MSU goalkeeper with a volley from Brandon Miller’s header flick. Lorenz’s goal ended a 90-minute scoreless drought for Wisconsin and gave the team its first Big Ten win of the year.
Lorenz, Ahlering and head coach Todd Yeagley all noted how well all 11 members of the team played as a whole, not just individually. They all also carried a high sense of confidence regarding the team’s goals for the rest of the season.
“[Our goal is to] win every game. … I have the utmost confidence in this team,” Lorenz said.
Yeagley was impressed with the team’s play yesterday, calling it “from the first whistle to the final whistle, our most complete performance” and reiterating his feelings of confidence in the team from “top to bottom.”
“When you’re fatigued and the game’s on the line, a couple of guys stepped up,” Yeagley said. “I was just thinking ‘Who is going to make the great play for us?’ because I was sure it would happen.”
Although Yeagley described the team’s hesitation and inability to convert in the attacking third as a detriment during the second half, he seemed pleased with team’s “1-0” start to the “new season.”
“We have kind of been disappointed with our results because a lot of them could have gone either way,” Ahlering said. “But I think the second half of the season will be a lot better.”
Lorenz expressed similar feelings of optimism about the outlook for the team for the rest of the season.
“[Our performance thus far into the season has been] pretty up and down,” Lorenz said. “We’ve had our good games, we’ve had our down games. Like we said, we’re starting over at the second half of the season and going one game at a time. [This game] is a good start for us, so it will give us confidence going forward.”
Lorenz, whose two goals were his first of the season, described the win today as a fresh start to the new season.
“Coming into the game, we really wanted to focus on starting a new second half of the season and taking every game one game at a time and getting a result in those games,” Lorenz said. “Today, we came out and executed very well.”
“Defensively we have been a little shaky at some points a few games,” Ahlering said. “I think we just need to communicate more and work together as a unit. But, after seeing the way we played today, I think we could make the postseason and maybe make it pretty deep in the Big Ten tournament, too.”
The play was even throughout as the game was tied for 95 minutes out of the 104 played. The Badgers narrowly outshot the Spartans 15-14, but Wisconsin was rewarded seven corner kicks compared to Michigan State’s one. The game was full of aggressive play, resulting in 22 fouls that only exacerbated the frigid conditions.
With the win, Wisconsin improved its record to 3-5-2, while Michigan State dropped to 6-4-1.
