It was probably the coldest conditions they’ve played in so far this season, but the men of the University of Wisconsin soccer [media-credit name=”Claire Larkins ” align=”alignright” width=”336″]
[/media-credit]team wouldn’t let a chilly afternoon stop them from proving why they deserve to be in the discussion of best in the Big Ten with a 1-0 win on Sunday over the Michigan State Spartans.
The win marked their 11th straight victory at the McClimon Complex, the longest home unbeaten streak in the country. The team was happy to hold such a title and even happier that it came against a ranked opponent.
“We’ve not been able to play better teams yet this year and shut them down,” head coach John Trask said after the game. “Today we shut down a team that knows how to score goals. We shut them down. I’m very pleased with our defensive performance.”
The Badgers allowed 10 shots in the match but only one of which was on goal. UW had 14 shots and was able to hit the net in the first half of the game.
After an impressive run downfield, senior defensive midfielder Paul Yonga rifled a low cross across the middle of the field in front of the Spartan defense, knocking it off a MSU defender to take the early lead in the 27th minute of the contest.
“I just stayed clicked in and won the ball just outside the 18 [meters],” Yonga said. “I was going to shoot it right away but I saw the defender overcommit. So I just touched it by him and picked my head up and didn’t really see anyone in there. I just crossed it across the box, and it went in.”
Michigan State had opportunities to tie up the match with a couple shots going just over the bar but weren’t able to score. UW was pleased to get the goal and the win. However, Trask didn’t believe it was their best showing of the season.
“Probably the first time that we didn’t play really well,” Trask said. “Good teams always find a way to win. I thought we were very dangerous going forward. I thought we were the more dangerous team. There was a lot of contact, a lot of fouls. They’re big and they’re athletic, same as us. Fortunately, we got one in the back of the net.”
The game got a little chippy toward the end with scuffles breaking out between players and a yellow card shown to Spartan midfielder Fatai Alashe, but Trask had nothing but praise for his opponent after the game.
“They’re as good in their center of the backfield and their goal keeper as anyone in the country,” Trask said. “That’s a tournament battle-tested team. They were the Big Ten tournament champs last year. They won three straight games coming into today and won at Northwestern. That’s a good program. That’s a good, tough win right there.”
The team was relieved to finally get to 10 wins after a recent loss to Michigan last week and a tie against Milwaukee last Wednesday, but the Badgers didn’t let that affect their game play.
“It’s huge for us,” Yonga said. “We wanted to get to ten wins. We were stuck at nine for what felt like forever so to get to 10 wins against a team like Michigan State is huge for us. It’s huge for us going forward to get to the NCAA tournament.”
The Badgers believe their NCAA tournament hopes are very much alive, especially after a win today. By finishing out the season strong, they think they still have a shot to go to the Cup. Wins against ranked opponents such as Michigan State and a future matchup with Northwestern will allow them to move up in the standings and get the NCAA Selection Committee to pick them.
“If we can keep going and win our last two home games and get a good result against Northwestern, I think we’ll be in good shape,” Yonga said.
The men’s soccer team hopes to continue their win streak when they play Eastern Illinois Wednesday and put all their attention only on the game that’s in front of them.
“We’re going to take Eastern Illinois just as seriously as we take Michigan State,” redshirt senior midfielder Tomislav Zadro said. “That’s something we’re doing really well this season. The next game is the biggest game of the season, and that’s how we approach every game.”
