The game had all the makings of a Cinderella story. Wisconsin, a team boasting its first winning conference record in over a decade was marching into Bloomington, Ind., to take on an Indiana squad that had only lost seven conference games since the Big Ten began playing soccer.
The stage was set under the lights of Bill Armstrong Stadium and 1,123 were in attendance, but midnight came early for the Badgers.
Wisconsin's bid for a Big Ten regular season championship ended Friday night as No. 20 Indiana downed UW 1-0.
The Hoosiers (4-1-1 Big Ten, 12-4-2) have now won 12 regular season conference titles in the last 14 years, including nine of the last 10.
With the loss, the Badgers (3-2-1, 9-7-2) finished the season tied for second in the conference alongside Ohio State.
The lone goal of the game came off the foot of freshman Indiana midfielder Lee Hagedorn in the 78th minute. Hagedorn recorded his first career goal after a Hoosier corner kick bounced loose in the Badger goal box.
Although IU goalkeeper Chay Cain and the Indiana defense shut out the Badgers, Wisconsin had chances to score in both halves.
UW freshman Scott Lorenz's 30-yard shot sailed to the left of the goal in the game's 13th minute.
In the second half, freshman midfielder Pablo Delgado had a shot from 20 yards out that also missed to the left of the Hoosier net.
Freshman forward Eric Conklin booted a low shot to the right of the goal in the 72nd minute as well.
Despite giving the Hoosiers the lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation, goalie Jake Settle and the Wisconsin defense played tough against Indiana's potent offensive attack.
Settle snagged four saves and kept IU off of the scoreboard early in the second half when the Hoosiers applied relentless pressure.
Badger defenders stopped two shots inside their own goal box in the 52nd minute. In the 58th minute, Settle dived and knocked a Hoosier shot away from the UW net to preserve the scoreless tie.
Wisconsin had several corner kicks as time wound down, but they could not capitalize on the opportunities.
The Hoosiers outshot the Badgers 14 to six and only Conklin had a shot on goal.
Although UW did not claim the regular season conference crown, they did finish with a winning Big Ten record for the first time since 1995.
The Badgers' next test will come against the Michigan Wolverines (1-2-3, 6-9-4) Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.
UW earned the No. 3 seed for the tournament because Ohio State beat the Badgers 2-0 in head-to-head competition.
Wisconsin beat Michigan 2-1 in overtime earlier this season at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
With a win over the Wolverines, Wisconsin would play the winner of Ohio State and Michigan State.
Should UW tally consecutive victories, there is a good chance they would face the Hoosiers for the tournament championship Nov. 5.
Thus, even though the Badgers were not dancing on Friday night, they could still win a trip to ""The Big Dance"" with three wins at the Big Ten Tournament.
—uwbadgers.com and iuhoosiers.com contributed to this report.
