The Wisconsin men's soccer team capped off a successful weekend at the Big Toe Soccer Invitational by defeating the gritty Drake Bulldogs in a 2-1, sudden-death victory Sunday afternoon at McClimon Soccer Complex. Coupled with their win Friday night over UNLV, the team took away a tournament championship from a four team field that also included the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Sho Fujita, a reserve sophomore midfielder/forward, headed a shot into the net past Drake sophomore goalkeeper Phillip Breuer in the 91st minute to seal the win. It was his second goal of the game. For his superlative effort over the weekend, Fujita was named to the All Tournament Team, as well as the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the tournament.
\It's great for Sho,"" said head coach Jeff Rohrman. ""He showed what he can do in a reserve capacity this weekend. He gave us some quality minutes.""
Also garnering All-Tournament Team honors were defender junior Aaron Hohlbein, junior forward Reid Johnson and junior net-minder Jake Settle. Hohlbein came away with the award for most outstanding defender of the weekend as well.
The individual accolades took a back seat, however, to the two victories and the confidence that was engendered for the coming weeks ahead, when the Badgers will begin Big Ten play.
""It's huge for confidence,"" noted Hohlbein, the team captain. ""This is the first time that we've had two wins in the first weekend in my three years here. I think the guys are really excited and we're ready to get going.""
Fujita got things rolling in the 41st minute, using assists from Christopher Ede and Hohlbein to skirt the ball past Drake's goalie to give Wisconsin a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs answered roughly halfway through the second half when Luke Frieberg tied the game by rifling a shot into the upper right corner of the goal. Another pivotal play came in the 81st minute, when Badger goalie Settle made an outstanding save to his left on a point blank shot, denying the Bulldogs the lead.
""That's what we need from Jake,"" said Rohrman. ""I've always said, great goalkeepers make saves that keep you in the game.""
Coach Rohrman acknowledged that his team played well in spurts against a quality opponent, but cited much room for improvement. He mentioned commons errors were being made so early in the season.
""I think we're getting better. I wouldn't say we played a very complete game today by any means. There were bits and pieces where we played real well, but going forward, we have to play with a lot more consistency through the course of the game. We were fortunate to come away with the win.""
The Badgers go on the road to take on Fairleigh Dickinson and Oakland this weekend.
