The men's soccer team kicked off its season this weekend by hosting the 15th annual Rocky Rococo Classic. The tournament fielded four teams-UW-Madison, Northern Illinois, No. 11 UW-Milwaukee and No. 20 New Mexico. Wisconsin opened play on Friday night against New Mexico and for the first 72 minutes, both teams struggled to score.
In the 73rd minute New Mexico sophomore forward Lance Watson found the back of the net and broke the scoreless tie. Watson's goal turned out to be the only score of the match as the Badgers lost game 1-0.
Despite losing, Wisconsin outshot its opponent 12-9 and UW goaltender Eric Hanson managed only one save. Junior forward Jed Hohlbein's seven shots led the Badger offense.
Sunday's match provided much of the same as Friday's game, but the Badgers found themselves victorious. Hohlbein put the Badgers ahead in the early moments of the game as he notched Wisconsin's first goal of the season. His goal was the game winner as Hanson turned away all five Northern Illinois shots. The Badgers once again outshot their opponents 17-11.
For a team with five new players in the starting lineup, the outlook appears extremely bright for the Badgers. In addition to the new faces in the starting line-up, the team has already shown signs that it has finally adapted to Head Coach Jeff Rohrman who is in his second year as head of the Wisconsin program.
Wisconsin will continue its non-conference season this weekend as they travel to Nevada to participate in the UNLV Tournament. They will open against the host Running Rebels on Friday before finishing the tournament Sunday against Mount St. Mary's.
