The UW men's soccer team's rollercoaster season came to an abrupt end Thursday as the Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Badgers 2-0 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. While the No. 6 seeded Badgers battled the No. 3 seed from start to finish, first half lapses ultimately caught up with the men in cardinal and white.
'We didn't come out firing on all cylinders, and I think that hurt us a little,' head coach Jeff Rohrman said, who watched his team suffer only their second loss in their last six games. 'In the second half, we had some opportunities, but we just couldn't get one in.'
Indiana tallied their first goal just 13 minutes into the match when sophomore Lee Nguyen assisted senior Jordan Chirico. As it turned out, that was all the scoring the Hoosiers would need. IU outshot the Badgers 8-1 in the first half and frustrated the Wisconsin offense for most of the game.
The Badgers sole scoring opportunity of the first half came when freshman striker Victor Diaz found junior Reid Johnson streaking toward the goal. But Johnson's header sailed passed the IU net and the Badgers went into halftime down 1-0.
UW had a chance to tie the game late in the second half, but Indiana goalie Chris Munroe jumped high in the air to save a header from Wisconsin sophomore forward Christopher Ede.
Badger junior goalkeeper Jake Settle totaled four saves on the afternoon and kept Wisconsin close against the Hoosiers (12-1-6), who entered Thursday's contest ranked second in the country. Settle and the Badger defense did not allow another Indiana goal until the 89th minute of play. With UW using extra offensive players in an attempt to tie the game, IU's Jacob Peterson took a pass from Mike Ambersley and beat Settle one on one to seal the Badgers' fate.
Despite the tough loss and many ups and downs in a season in which UW finished 8-11 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten, coach Rohrman remained positive after the game.
'After a heartbreaking season, I really thought the guys built a lot of character,' said Rohrman, whose team bounced back from a seven- game losing streak to finish the regular season with three consecutive wins. Seven of Wisconsin's 11 losses came by just one goal.
'After a season like we had with a bunch of close games, I give tons of credit to these guys for sticking with it,' Rohrman said. 'I am really excited to coach these guys this spring and be able to lead them again next season.'
