The Badgers ran their unbeaten streak to five as they downed Northwestern 2-0 Sunday afternoon at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
Although Wisconsin (2-0-1 Big Ten, 6-3-2 overall) and Northwestern (1-2-0, 8-3-0) entered the contest as the conference leaders in goals per game, neither team could find the net in the first half.
UW jumped on the scoreboard in the game's 54th minute when senior forward Reid Johnson popped a shot over the head of Northwestern goalkeeper Will Briley.
Sophomore defender Andy Miller set up the score with a right-to-left cross to forward William Bagayoko. The senior then found Johnson in the middle of the Northwestern goal box.
""This [NU defender] . . . he was just riding my back so long. I knew if I got a quick jump on him at some point I was going to be able to get in front of him,"" Johnson said. ""The ball bounced to me perfectly and ... I saw nothing but getting it over the goalie's head.""
Badger head coach Jeff Rohrman said both Bagayoko and Johnson provided a spark off the bench.
""When we inserted Reid I thought he did a little better job,"" Rohrman said. ""[And] William gave us a lot of energy up and down the left side.""
Midway through the second half, Northwestern forward Geoff Fallon stole the ball from senior co-captain Hamid Afsari just outside the Badger goal box. UW keeper Jake Settle dove for the ball, but could not hold on, leaving the Wisconsin net wide open. Yet Afsari sprinted in front of the goal and blocked the NU shot with his chest to preserve the 1-0 lead.
""I figured if I lose it, I should take it upon myself to prevent the goal,"" Afsari said. ""I just read it right and luckily I was in the right place at the right time.""
A goal by freshman Pablo Delgado in the 72nd minute put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.
As sophomore Victor Diaz darted down the center of the field he passed off to Delgado cutting along the left sideline. The freshman from Madrid juked one Wildcat defender and booted the ball in the bottom-right corner of the Northwestern net.
""I felt like I had to do it,"" Delgado said. ""We needed that goal to be more confident and calm in the game.""
With the victory, Wisconsin matched last season's conference win total.
""We have a big senior-heavy team. It's the last go around for us,"" Johnson said. ""The last couple seasons, we knew we were good enough to play with the best teams, this year we knew it and we decided to do something about it.""
The Badgers face their next test on Wednesday when they battle Western Illinois at the McClimon Soccer Complex. The Leathernecks (2-0 Mid-Continent, 7-4) enter the contest riding a four game winning streak.
