The Wisconsin men’s soccer team (1-2-0 Big Ten, 9-3-1 overall) continued conference play Sunday, where they fell to Michigan (2-2-0, 6-4-3) in Ann Arbor.
It would prove to be an even match early on. The game remained scoreless after the first half.
The first Wolverine goal occurred at the 52 minute mark. After a misplay back to the keeper by the Wisconsin defense, Michigan forward James Murphy converted by stealing the ball and putting it in the back of the net.
Just 11 minutes later, senior forward Nick Janus capitalized on a failed clearance by the Wolverines. Janus buried the unassisted goal to rally the Wisconsin offense.
This was Janus’ seventh goal of the season, which leads the team.
The game would remain a stalemate, until the 86th minute when Michigan delivered the dagger.
Senior midfielder Fabio Pereira connected on the outside with sophomore midfielder Colin McAtee. The midfielder carried the ball up the left side until he centered the ball to junior midfielder Tyler Arnone. He volleyed the ball passed UW freshman goalkeeper Casey Beyers.
The late goal would prove to be too much for the Badgers to come back from, as Michigan took the conference win and now leads in the standings over Wisconsin.
Despite the scoreline, UW outshot Michigan 15-12. They also more than doubled the Wolverine’s corner kick attempts.
This loss marks Wisconsin’s first loss in the month of October. Their last lost took place on Sept. 29 when they lost to conference leading Penn State.
UW will look to bounce back Wednesday night when they play UW-Milwaukee on the road.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
