After months of blood, sweat, and tears, the Wisconsin men's soccer team's season came to an end thanks to an errant pass.
The Big Ten Tournament opened last Thursday with the Wisconsin Badgers hosting the Michigan Wolverines, a team only in their second season of existence.
But on a dreary and blustery fall morning, the Badgers fell to the Wolverines 1-0, finishing their season at 10-8-1.
Wisconsin was playing without two of their senior starters, goalie Moriba Atiba Baker and sweeper Scott Repa. Baker was out with a quadriceps injury while Repa was suspended for one game after earning his fifth yellow card of the season during the team's final regular season game against Ohio State Sept. 30. Michigan was ecstatic to take advantage of this opportunity early.
\We were ready to play against a strong ball winner in that central position,"" said Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns. ""That was an emotional lift for us at the start of the game when we heard that [Repa] wasn't playing.""
With a young backfield missing two of their key seniors, Wisconsin had to fend off a bigger Michigan team.
The defense was successful for most of the game, with the only lapse occurring midway through the first half, when a pass to freshman forward/midfielder Nicolas Aguilar in the backfield was intercepted by UM freshman midfielder Knox Cameron, who slipped the ball pass junior goalkeeper Phil Ayoub for the only score in the game.
The Badgers had their opportunities, though, like when senior forward Dominic DaPra slipped a perfect pass to forward Aaron Lauber, only to have Lauber hesitate long enough for a Michigan defender to catch up and disrupt the run.
Michigan went on to play tournament favorite and No. 1 Indiana the next day. On paper, it looked like another easy Indiana victory. However, the Wolverines were not ready to give up just yet. Michigan held their ground for 135 minutes of scoreless soccer. Into the third overtime, Indiana forward, junior Pat Noonan, scored on a rocket shot to win 1-0 in triple overtime.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Michigan State defeated No. 6 Ohio State 2-1 Thursday, and seventh-seeded Northwestern was shutout by No. 2 Penn State 2-0 later that night.
The next day, Michigan State upset Penn State 2-1 to advance to the finals against Indiana. Sunday, the Hoosiers came out with an impressive 2-0 victory to win the Big Ten Tournament and ensure a decent ranking the NCAA Tournament. Penn State and Michigan State are hopefuls to make the tournament, while the Badgers' season is over.
Head Coach Kalekeni Banda's squad will be improved in the backfield next year, with an experienced group of younger guys ready to take the mantle of leadership set by the seniors this year.
However, with the loss of the best scorers on the Badgers, it will be difficult for Banda to find another pure offensive threat like DaPra and Lauber were. However, Banda is confident about the Badgers' chances next season.
""This season we had a lot of inexperienced guys in key positions,"" Banda said. ""Next year, they'll be experienced sophomores and that will be key for us.\
