Last season, Wisconsin’s men’s soccer team outscored their opponents 28-18. Their secret? Pairing freshman forward phenomena Dean Boltz with the help of the consistent and formidable attacker Trip Fleming. Boltz led the way with 10 goals and four assists on the season, and Fleming contributed five goals and three assists. Combined, the two were responsible for over half of the Badger’s goals and a third of their assists.
The story becomes even more picture-perfect, with Boltz being drafted to Chicago Fire FC in the MLS and Fleming being rostered on the club’s MLS Next Pro team.
If you’re a Wisconsin fan, you’re surely excited for both players. However, it leaves a big question mark with no “picture-perfect solution” as to who may step up and become a reliable attacking threat for the Badgers this season.
Look to one (or more) of these four Badgers to carry the load going into 2025.
Caleb Capone
The incoming freshman is simply put, a goalscorer in nature. While 17 years old playing in England for Edgeware & Kingsbury FC, a semi-pro team where the average age on the team was 23.1 years old, Capone led his squad with 11 goals and recorded five assists. Don’t let the striker’s age deceive you of his soccer IQ. He is quick, crafty and above all, crashes the net by being at the right place at the right time. With his experience and immense success in playing against older talent, there’s no reason to doubt he’ll see plenty of the field in his freshman campaign.
Bart Muns
The graduate student comes to Wisconsin in his last year of eligibility after having played at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Santa Barbara City College and Southeastern Community College over the last four years. Across the three teams, the striker has scored 55 goals and posted 33 assists. While his production wasn’t at a high caliber school like Wisconsin, that’s not the point — most Division 1 soccer players don’t even put up those staggering statistics at the high school level. So even if it means he won’t score quite as many points for the Badgers, I’m confident he’ll stick and find his fair share of the back of the net. Muns’ consistency speaks volumes, and he may just be the asset the Badgers need.
Matthew Zachemski
Last season, the midfielder took the No. 20 spot in the Top Drawer Soccer Men's Midseason Top 100 Freshmen list. Zachemski additionally played striker through high school and takes advantage of getting high up on the attack. Zachemski hasn’t attempted many shots, instead acting conservatively as a selfless and intelligent passer. He had three assists last season and placed countless phenomenal through-balls that won’t show up on the box score. However, the shots Zachemski has taken have been astonishingly accurate and purposeful. The Itasca, Illinois, native scored three goals on just six shot attempts. With the loss of goalscorers, I can see Zachemski taking more shots for himself this season and racking up points.
Thomas Raimbault
In his two years with Wisconsin, the newly-named captain has accumulated six goals and four assists. He has averaged 55 minutes of playing time between his 28 career appearances but now, as a veteran leader without older strikers to split minutes with, Raimbault’s minutes should significantly increase. The striker poses as an unpredictable dual threat for opponents. From his ability to break out wide and tactically place balls in the box for teammates to capitalize on, to shooting from various ranges and angles. Without the safety-nets and go-to men that were Boltz and Fleming, Raimbault will have the chance to execute on what should be his greatest number of targets and playing time.
