The men's soccer team continued their excellent play and extended their winning streak to three games by beating Northern Illinois last night 1-0.
It was the Badger's eighth win against a non-conference opponent this year, and the first time the Badgers have won at the Huskie Soccer Complex in DeKalb since 1995. The victory now gives the team a 9-6-2 record with the regular season finale against No. 24 Drake coming up next Tuesday.
The game was scoreless until the 31st minute when junior forward Scott Lorenz put the Badgers ahead on a long shot that went over the head of the Huskie's goalkeeper.
Senior defender Zack Lambo tallied his third assist of the year on Lorenz's team-leading ninth goal of the season.
It was a terrific ball by Lambo and Scotty [Lorenz] did a great job of turning it and lofting it over the goalkeeper,"" Wisconsin head coach Jeff Rohrman said.
It was all Wisconsin would need as the defense played lights out against the quick Huskie attack.
Down to the final seconds of the game the Huskies challenged Wisconsin's defense. Northern Illinois' artificial surface at the Huskie Soccer complex intensifies the pace of their attack, but the Badgers stood strong, keeping the ball out of the back of the net.
The Huskies managed 16 shots, however they were only able to put four of them on goal.
Wisconsin junior goalkeeper Alex Horwath saved two of the four shots on goal, the Badger defense kept the Huskies off the board by saving the other two.
""We did a great job defensively, especially in our individual defense,"" Rohrman said. ""We had to handle a lot of long throws and defend a lot of set pieces and corners because of the way NIU plays, and I'm really proud of our defensive effort.""
During this winning streak the Badgers have outscored their opponents 7-1, and over the last seven games they have only surrendered five goals. Four of those seven games ended with Wisconsin shutting out their opponents.
It was also a milestone night for Horwath in goal. With the win he passed UW assistant coach Nick Pasquarello for 10th on UW all-time win list. He also managed his fifth shutout of the season, which was the 12th in his career and moves him into a tie for sixth on UW's all-time list.
""I thought it was a gutsy performance by us today against a team that is very difficult to play against, especially at home,"" head coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""I was really proud of the way the guys performed and persevered through a tough challenge.""
The Badgers will need another solid performance when looking for their 10th win of the season against a talented Drake team Wednesday night at the McClimon Complex. The Bulldogs have been ranked for five straight weeks and have won three of their last four games.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
