The Wisconsin men's soccer team put up a tough fight, but lost to Big Ten conference leaders Northwestern at the McClimon Soccer Complex Sunday. Despite strong play in the second half, the Badgers could not overcome a first-half deficit and fell to the Wildcats 2-1.
Today's game was a game of two halves,"" head coach Jeff Rohrman said. ""I'm proud of the effort that they came out with for that last 45, but the game is 90 minutes long, and we've got be sure that we come out in the first minute and play through the 90th.""
Northwestern's Matt Eliason scored twice in under five minutes at the end of the first half, putting Wisconsin down 2-0. A goal from junior forward Scott Lorenz and scoring opportunities in the last minutes of the game were not enough for the Badgers, who were stopped by the Wildcat's defense for most of the game.
Northwestern goaltender Misha Rosenthal had 13 saves on the afternoon and did not allow the Badgers the goal needed to tie late in the game.
""He made some clutch saves,"" Lorenz said about Rosenthal. ""He's a good keeper, and you've got to do something special to beat him.""
Northwestern, ranked No. 2 nationally, controlled the pace of the game through most of the first half. The Wildcats created opportunities for Eliason, their leading scorer, who found the back of the net in the 31st and 35th minutes of play to give Northwestern the lead at halftime.
""He's a poacher; he's a great scorer,"" Rohrman said of Eliason. ""If he has three shots on goal, there's a pretty good likelihood that at least one of those is going to go in, or two of those.""
But in the second half, the Badgers played as Northwestern had in the first, controlling the ball on offense and keeping it in Wildcat territory. Lorenz scored on a header in the 65th minute, assisted by freshman midfielder Austin Spohn and senior defender Andy Miller, earning him praise from Rohrman.
""Scott's just one of those guys that no matter what kind of game he's having, he's capable of putting one or two in,"" Rohrman said.
Wisconsin played aggressive soccer in the final minutes of the game, but the Northwestern defense and Rosenthal's goaltending frustrated the Badger offense.
Rosenthal blocked multiple shots and Wisconsin could not capitalize on a pair of corner kicks in the final 10 minutes of the game, sealing a Wildcat victory.
""We threw everything we had at them, and they handled it,"" Lorenz said.
Rohrman said that he was happy with the way his team played Northwestern, coming close to the upset, and that he expects the momentum from the second half of Sunday to carry over to the Badgers' next game at Marquette Wednesday.
""We know that we can compete with those teams. Now we just have to get over that hump,"" he said.
