Following Wednesday night's draw with in-state rival UW-Milwaukee, the men's soccer team was looking for a win entering Sunday's game with Michigan State. What they got instead was another draw and a point on the road.
The 0-0 tie brings Wisconsin's record to a respectable 4-3-2, 1-0-1 in Big Ten play, while Michigan State's record became 6-2-1, 0-1-1. For the Badgers, leaving East Lansing with a point was a victory in itself.
""It's a testament to our quality of character to get a tie on the road in a conference as tough as ours,"" head coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""A point on the road is a positive.""
The game was an offensive struggle from the start as neither team looked willing to take a chance offensively. Both the Badgers and Spartans played solid team defense, only taking offensive chances when they presented themselves.
One such chance came from the foot of junior midfielder Sho Fujita with only three minutes remaining in the first half. Fujita took a shot that looked destined to put the Badgers ahead going into the half, but instead the ball caromed off the post and away from the net.
Wisconsin managed 13 shots, three of them on goal, and Spartan keeper Jason Tillman denied all three. The Spartans were equally unlucky on the offensive half, and Badger netminder Jake Settle recorded two saves en route to the shutout.
Wisconsin's stellar defense on set plays contributed to the lack of offensive action for the Spartans as MSU earned five corner kicks, compared to just three for the Badgers, yet were unable to turn any into goals.
As the story has been for much of the season, the Badger defense, led by captain Aaron Hohlbein, shut down the opposing team's offense and guaranteed a point for the Badgers. MSU's best scoring opportunity came about 20 minutes into the second half when a Spartan midfielder slid the ball through the Badger defense, leaving Spartan forward Kenzo Webster all alone with Settle. As Settle charged the play, Webster sent a shot wide that would have been the deciding goal. Poor weather conditions and heavy winds affected each team's offensive flow.
Michigan State head coach Joe Baum summed up the afternoon's contest best: ""Each side played hard, but no one was able to step up and make the big play.""
After escaping East Lansing with its conference undefeated streak intact, the Badgers now return home to Madison to face No. 8 Illinois-Chicago Thursday night in a non-conference matchup at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
Rohrman hopes that the Badgers can find some offense because when facing off against a nationally-ranked opponent, putting only three shots on target will be insufficient.
""We had some chances, but we just weren't able to find the net,"" he said. ""That's something we have to improve upon for the future.""
—uwbadgers.com and msuspartans.cstv.com contributed to this report.
