Reaching the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since the 2003 season, the No. 7 seed Wisconsin men's soccer team faced the No. 3 seed Michigan Wolverines. Winning the regular season matchup between these two teams, the Wolverines were the clear favorite in this contest.
Michigan's Soony Saad would net the only goal of the game. Coming in the 78th minute, Saad would receive a give and go pass from older brother Hamoody Saad to set up the shot that found its way home, beating Wisconsin freshman keeper Max Jentsch. The Wolverines held on to the 1-0 lead, halting the Badger postseason push only one day after Wisconsin defeated the defending Big Ten Champions, Ohio State.
The Wolverines ended the game with the advantage in both shots, overpowering the Badgers 19-6, and shots on goal with 6. Wisconsin failed to record a shot on goal, but had multiple opportunities to put one in the back of the net.
The Badgers found themselves with three solid chances in the final ten minutes of the game. First, coming with just under 10 minutes remaining, Wisconsin would be awarded a corner kick. The ball was sent in by freshman midfielder Joey Tennyson and found the head fellow freshman Luke Goodnetter but would fly just high.
Tennyson would give the Badgers another shot at tying the game in the 85th minute. Drawing a penalty in the corner, Tennyson and freshman forward Chris Prince would line up on the ball. The kick was taken by Prince, but senior defender Aaron Nichols' header went wide.
Making one last run, Nichols carried the ball down the right sideline and the Badgers would apply some pressure on the Wolverine defense, but could not find the goal to send the game into overtime.
""The guys played their hearts out,"" head coach John Trask said. ""They really did. I'm proud of the way they battled and the effort they put out there.
The Badgers would end Trask's first season with the team staging an impressive late season run, giving Wisconsin a final record of 4-13-3.
