Spurred on by a hat trick from senior forward Nick Van Sicklen, the University of Wisconsin (1-1 Big Ten, 5-6 overall) men's soccer team upset No. 9 Penn State (0-2-1, 5-2-5) Sunday at the McClimon Sports Complex.
Van Sicklen capped his treble with a mesmerizing goal in the waning seconds of the second half to put the Badgers up and seal the 4-3 victory. The goal came against the run of play as Wisconsin had been reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes to play when sophomore forward Matt Jelacic was sent off with a red card.
After Jelacic's send-off, the Badgers were forced on their back heels by a relentless PSU attack, but when sophomore forward Reid Johnson took the ball near midfield and sent a through ball to Van Sicklen, it was the Nittany Lions who were reeling.
Van Sicklen tracked down Johnson's through ball before splitting two defenders and then coolly slotted a low rolling shot into the right corner. All Penn State freshman goalkeeper Conrad Taylor could do was watch as the ball, and the game, slipped out of his grasp.
For Van Sicklen, the goal sealed his first-ever hat trick. The senior has played a deeper midfield role most of the season, but since moving to forward last week, he has scored five goals. It's a move that has paid huge dividends for both him and the team.
\I thought the guys played their hearts out,"" UW Head Coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""Late in the game we thought we'd put Nick up top to possibly have him run by somebody and create some stuff. And you know, it's one of those things, you make that decision and it works for you.""
And while Wisconsin could not have asked for a better ending, the win wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. Three times the Badgers held a one-goal lead only for Penn State to equalize. It was Van Sicklen who opened the scoring in the 14th minute, when he latched onto a free kick from freshmen forward Dirk Pearson.
The Nittany Lions leveled in the 24th, but Wisconsin answered with a goal by sophomore Reid Johnson. The lead stood for just 10 minutes before Penn State evened the score at two thanks to some slack UW defending.
In the second half, Van Sicklen scored his second goal, this time from the spot, to put Wisconsin back on top. He earned the penalty kick when he was pulled down in the box after evading two PSU defenders.
Following Jelacic's ejection, Penn State looked to exploit their numerical advantage and broke through in the 83rd minute when senior forward Chad Severs steered a loose rebound into the UW net.
Penn State continued to pepper the UW net, but was unable to convert. That set the stage for Van Sicklen's climactic winner.
Wisconsin cannot be content with knocking off just one ranked opponent, though, as a showdown with No. 3 Indiana looms. After struggling with consistency all season, this win goes a long way in proving UW can contend with the Big Ten's best.
""I think it was a huge win for us,"" Van Sicklen said. ""I don't know, but I think we just showed, with the last two games, what we're capable of.""
