The UW men's soccer season started off on rough footing this season following a 1-0 loss to Southern Methodist Universiy at the Tulsa Tournament. Since that loss, the Badgers have notched three straight shutout victories to push their record to 3-1.
At last weekend's 34th Annual Panther Invitational, hosted by in-state rival UW-Milwaukee, the Badgers ran off back-to-back shutout victories over Lipscomb and Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne.
In the tournament opener versus Lipscomb, the Badgers and Bison played even soccer for the first 45 minutes as the Badgers, according to UW coach Jeff Rohrman, ""struggled to find any rhythm."" Then, midway through the second half, sophomore midfielder Zack Lambo capitalized on a Bison mistake in the midfield.
In the 65th minute, Lambo correctly judged a misplayed cross by the Bison defense and stormed in on net. From 30 yards out, Lambo sent a shot into the upper left corner, leaving Bison goalkeeper Danny Prichard no hope of parrying the ball away.
""It was just a tremendous shot with a lot of movement that beat the keeper to his right,"" Rohrman said of Lambo's shot.
With the lead and only 25 minutes left to play, the Badgers turned to its defense and goalie to keep the win and shutout intact. Senior goalkeeper Jake Settle did his part in the win as he made five saves in the winning effort. The 1-0 victory also marked Settle's fifth career shutout as a Badger.
In the Badgers' final game of the weekend, the squad faced off with IPFW. At the end of the first half, things were all squared on the scoreboard but the Badgers had hit the crossbar four times.
Early in the second half, Victor Diaz gave the Badgers the lead with a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. Diaz's goal opened the floodgates as six Badger goals followed suit, including two more from Diaz, one from freshman Eric Conklin and three from freshman substitute Brian Bultman.
With the successful trip to Milwaukee behind them, the team now will look ahead to hosting the Middleton Cycle and Fitness Invitational this weekend. The Badgers kick off their home opener against Washington at 7:30 p.m Friday, then take on Creighton at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
—UWbadgers.com contributed to this report.
