The No. 2 seed University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team (10-6-2, 6-2 Big Ten) took on No. 3 seed Michigan (12-4-2, 4-2-2 Big Ten) in a tightly contested semifinal of the Big Ten Tournament Friday. The defending champs, however, could not advance as the Badgers fell to the Wolverines 1–0 in Westfield, Indiana to end their season.
In a postgame conversation with UW Athletics, head coach John Trask believed it was always going to be a tough game, even though the Badgers defeated the Wolverines a few weeks ago.
“Compliments to Michigan,” Trask said. “We had an excellent game against them in the regular season and were fortunate enough to beat them in the regular season.”
In the 20th minute, a penalty was given when the Badgers handled the ball inside the box.
Volleyball: Badgers overcome No. 12 Boilermakers in five sets
Sophomore Marc Ybarra easily slotted away the penalty to give the Wolverines the only goal of the game.
“It was a correct call on the penalty kick,” Trask said. “I had no issue with that.”
With cold and sleety conditions, there was not much offensive production from both teams.
It was an especially tough day for the Badgers, as they managed to get off only four shots all game, with none on target.
Football: Stagnant offense, injuries lead to 22-10 loss at Penn State
“I was proud of the guys today,” Trask said. “I thought we battled for 90 minutes and it was a fair result.”
Despite finishing second in the Big Ten regular season and bowing out in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, Wisconsin was not selected to participate in this year’s edition of the NCAA Tournament. After a hard fought season, including winning four out of the final six games of the season, the Badgers finish with a 10-6-2 record overall and 6-2 in Big Ten play.
