The Wisconsin men’s soccer team (1-2-0 Big Ten, 4-6-3 overall) picked up its first Big Ten win of the season as it bested Michigan (1-2-1, 4-6-1) under the lights at the McClimon Soccer Complex Saturday night.
The Badgers prevailed 2-1 in a match highlighted by the spectacular play of freshman goalkeeper Chase Rau.
Rau had a career-high six saves, including some key redirections on Michigan corner kicks. His only blemish came in the 15th minute as he charged redshirt sophomore midfielder Tyler Arnone, who snuck the ball past Rau for the equalizer.
Wisconsin got the scoring started early with junior forward Chris Prince finishing from a yard out in the seventh minute on a nifty pass from freshman midfielder Drew Conner.
The Badgers maintained a suffocating attack for the first 10 minutes of the game, giving Michigan no room to advance the ball. The quick strike, however, did not set the tone for the rest of the game.
Michigan turned up the pressure after Wisconsin took the early lead and remained on the attack for the remainder of the first half and a majority of the second half. Michigan had nine corner kicks to UW’s one, leading to Rau’s increased workload.
The shot total also heavily favored the Wolverines, as they had 14 to UW’s seven. The Badgers made the most of their shots, though, putting all seven of them on goal.
It was the intense Michigan pressure in the second half that lead to the Badgers' winning goal. Rau began a counter-attack with a goal kick that Prince headed up-field. Junior forward Nick Janus finished off the top of the cross bar to put the Badgers ahead for good in the 80th minute.
Janus was shaken up on the play but returned minutes later.
The steady rain earlier in the day made for a slippery pitch, causing lots of contact between players and producing what ended up being a pretty physical match. Wisconsin tallied more fouls than the Wolverines at 17-14, and Conner received the only booking of the match in the 36th minute for his foul on Arnone.
Michigan converted its first attempt against Rau, but the talented keeper was spectacular throughout the rest of the match, putting his stamp on the match with a handful of athletic plays and ensuring the Badgers would have a chance to end the match with a favorable result.
