The fifth-seeded Wisconsin men's soccer team kicked off tournament action Thursday afternoon as they defeated fourth-seeded Ohio State. The 2-0 triumph over the Buckeyes marked the Badgers' first Big Ten tournament win since 1998.
Victory came as a result of all-around impressive play from junior forward Nick Van Sicklen, who assisted in the initial goal and sunk the second to seal the deal.
\[Van Sicklen] gave us a great lift when he came in,"" Wisconsin Head Coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""I was really pleased with the way he played. He's such a dynamic kid. He's explosive, he's great on the dribble and he's great on the run. He gives us that dimension that maybe a couple of our other forwards don't have, so it's nice to put him in the mix and have him playing well right now.""
The first half presented back-and-forth play and scoreless action until under the two-minute mark. Junior midfielder David Martinez tallied the game-winning goal thanks to a deflection from Van Sicklen.
""I thought we rebounded from a pretty tough first half,"" Rohrman said. ""It certainly wasn't our best performance in the first half, but I thought in the second half we played a little bit better. I thought we were somewhat fortunate to be up 1-0 going in.""
The final punch closed the door on the Buckeyes midway through the second half as Van Sicklen did it himself this time with a goal from eight yards out on the left side.
Though Wisconsin got the best of Ohio State, the Buckeyes had plenty of chances to get on the board. Junior goalkeeper Eric Hanson kept the Buckeyes out of the net with seven saves to capture his sixth shutout of the season.
UW will face top-seeded Indiana in the semi-finals at 4 p.m. Friday. Revenge will be on the mind of Wisconsin since IU shutout the Badgers 3-0 earlier this season.
