Junior Victor Diaz picked up where he left off last season, as he scored the only goal in Wisconsin's 1-0 win over Stanford Friday afternoon in the first game of the Cal Legacy Classic in Berkeley, Calif.
That was enough for the UW men's soccer team to secure their second consecutive victory, in a match where sophomore goalkeeper Alex Horwath was never really threatened.
Horwath needed to make only one save the entire game, a statistic that spoke volumes about the Badgers' solid defense, as well as Stanford's inability to hit the target.
Head coach Jeff Rohrman lauded his charges on their plucky display.
The team just battled and battled today and got the job done,"" Rohrman said. ""This is about the best defensive performance I've ever seen out of this team.""
Wisconsin drew ahead in the first half, courtesy of a 23rd minute goal by Diaz. He received a pass from midfielder Taylor Waspi, turned past a defender and beat Stanford's goalkeeper with an emphatic curling finish from 20 yards out. It was Diaz's first goal of the season and the 12th of his career.
Stanford increased its offensive pressure in a bid to draw level, but was unable to make its chances count. The Cardinal had eight attempts on goal, of which only one was on target.
Counter-attack was the order of the day for the Badgers, and they narrowly missed several opportunities on the break. Senior midfielder Erik Ortega proved to be a handful coming off the bench, as he forced Stanford's John Moore to make two saves.
Toward the end, it became clear that Stanford would require a moment of magic to break Wisconsin's resilient backline. That moment did not arrive, and Diaz's solitary goal was enough for the Badgers to pick up maximum points.
Naturally, head coach Rohrman was pleased with the result. ""We had a good test today and found out that we could do some things against Stanford,"" he said.
""It was a back-and-forth game and all of our players that got in the game had great performances. It was great to get the result against a good opponent in a tough environment.""
- ouwbadgers.com contributed to this report
