Wisconsin Men's Soccer continued its successful start to the season this weekend by beating Santa Clara 1-0 on Friday night and drawing against Dayton 3-3 on Sunday in the Middleton Sports and Fitness Invitational at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
The victory over Santa Clara was particularly impressive, as the Broncos entered the contest ranked No. 20 in the nation. It took an overtime goal by junior midfielder Taylor Waspi to clinch the win for Wisconsin in the second minute of sudden death.
Neither team was able to net a goal in regulation time, sending the game into extra time. Santa Clara began the session with complete control of possession.
I wasn't too pleased with our start in overtime,"" head coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""In the first minute or two it looked like [Santa Clara] had the better of us.""
With the Broncos pushing forward early in overtime, a turnover created the opportunity for a counterattack. Senior forward Victor Diaz took the ball and made a skillful run downfield, eluding the Santa Clara defense. After making several players miss the ball, it appeared as though Diaz may have had a clear run at the net. But Bronco defender Jalil Anibaba took Diaz down from behind, giving Anibaba a yellow card and Wisconsin a free kick in a dangerous area.
The free kick was taken by junior midfielder Pablo Delgado about 15 yards outside the box and angled to the left. Delgado delivered the ball low and hard toward the near post. Santa Clara goalkeeper Kevin Klasila got the shot but was unable to handle the ball cleanly, and Waspi tapped the rebound into the net.
Waspi earned the game-winner, but gave credit to Delgado.
""[Delgado] hit a perfect ball. He dipped it down so it hit the ground first as we planned,"" Waspi said.
Rohrman was also pleased with Delgado's effort.
""[Delgado] did a tremendous job of recognizing the field was wet and he needed to get it on goal and make it difficult for the goalkeeper, and that's exactly what he did,"" Rohrman said.
""That's where the experience comes in. You don't have to talk to him about what to do. He understands the situation and executes it.""
The Badgers were not able to notch their fourth consecutive victory of their young season against the Flyers, but Wisconsin did keep its undefeated start intact with the tie.
Dayton took the lead in the eighth minute with a goal by forward Alex Torda. The Badgers answered quickly with a free-kick goal off the foot of junior forward Scott Lorenz.
Dayton reclaimed the lead in the first half with another Torda goal before Wisconsin once again evened the score in the 31st minute courtesy of junior midfielder Brandon Miller.
Early in the second, half Delgado scored to give the Badgers a 3-2 advantage, but an own goal given up by Wisconsin six minutes later once again tied the score.
After six goals in the first 55 minutes, neither team was able to find the back of the net and the game ended in a draw.
Rohrman would have liked to see his team sweep the weekend, but knew Dayton was a tough foe.
""They're an older, experienced team, and they're very good,"" Rohrman said. ""I could see that team competing for one of the top spots in the Atlantic 10.""
The results this weekend make Wisconsin 3-1-0 on the season after going just 6-7-6 last year.
""I'm not surprised [about our start],"" Rohrman said. ""I know what we have within this group.
