The Wisconsin men's soccer team faced Loyola Marymount on Sunday at McLimon field. The team pushed their winning streak to three games and brought their home record to 2-2, beating the Lions, 2-1.
Both teams had a couple of problems with the slickness of the field after a rainy early morning. More often than not it was the Lions slipping and sliding even on the average pass.
""[Head] coach [John Trask] is big on wearing studs, which are metal cleats,"" freshmen defender AJ Cochran said. ""The other teams that come in here usually don't wear them, and it helps us win balls in the air and on the ground.""
Cochran seemed to be all over the Lions on the defensive end. He recorded two great blocks, one of which prevented a goal.
""AJ [Cochran] is a top tier division one player, we knew that when we recruited him,"" Trask said. ""Everything that he does on a daily basis isn't a shock to me. His tackling, his competitiveness, the way he gets on other guys to get them going, and a lot of our good attack starts with him. If he hadn't gotten the concussion we'd have at least one more win under our belt, I think.""
The Badgers almost cashed in multiple times during the first half.
Their chances included a shot by sophomore midfielder Joey Tennyson went just wide left, a shot by Nick Janus actually found the back of the net but was waved off because of an offside call and a one-on-one shot by Josh Thiermann was blocked by Loyola Marymount keeper Jack McCormack.
The Badgers finally were able to find the back of the net in the 22nd minute when midfielder junior midfielder Tomislav Zadro managed to put the ball past the Lions' defense and into the goal.
Sophomore forward Chris Prince dribbled the ball all the way into the bottom left quarter of the Lions' box, drew out the goalie and then passed to an open Zadro who did the rest.
For the next 20 minutes the Badgers and Lions traded shot for shot, missing on a couple close ones, until the forty-first minute when LMU forward Artur Jozkowicz scored the Lions' only goal. His first shot was blocked but he was able to put the ball in on the rebound.
The game was tied at the half and the battle continued until the waning minutes of the game.
Redshirt senior Josh Thiermann got the ball off the throw in, turned towards the goal saw a sprinting freshman defenseman/midfielder David Caban. Thiermann then passed to Caban giving the Badgers the one goal lead, and eventual win just four minutes later.
Thiermann, a leader on the team, stressed the importance of finishing strong.
""When you come to play you come to play, you really have to maintain that focus, maintain that attitude for the whole ninety minutes,"" he said.
Thiermann has been playing injured according Trask.
""He's playing hurt, god love him for it, he's really hurting,"" Trask said. ""The bottom of his foot is real messed up, but he's putting in a lot of hard work.""
