The Wisconsin Badgers men’s soccer team swiftly defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions on Oct. 25 at the McClimon Complex, winning 2-0 on Senior Night before falling to the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines 2-1 on Halloween.
Penn State
Wisconsin opened the score against the Nittany Lions in the 27th minute off a curving cross from forward Thomas Raimbault found forward Roman Eisa in the box, who finished the shot on his left foot.
A few seconds later, goalkeeper Matisse Hebert made a crucial save on a one-on-one with Penn State forward Van Danielson.
In the 35th minute, Badger forward Aidan Martinez centered a cross for Thomas Raimbault, who played it behind midfielder Matthew Zachemsy at the edge of the box. Zachemsy sent a strike from his weak foot to the bottom right corner of the net to double the Wisconsin lead before the half.
Forward Markie Hrovejevic came close to tripling the lead for the Badgers in the 68th minute, as a pass from forward Sam Green set him up on goal. Hrovejevic decided to chip it on his first touch however, and the ball went over the net.
Overall, Wisconsin dominated this game, a recent trend when playing at home. Wisconsin ended the game with 11 total shots, seven of them coming in the second half, on top of the four corner kicks. Defensively, the Badgers played a clinical game, holding the Nittany Lions to just three shots.
Michigan
The Badgers then made a trip to Ann Arbor to take on the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines Friday.
The Wolverines seemed like they were shot out of a cannon to start, scoring just two minutes into the game when Michigan midfielder Mitar Mitrovic sent a cannon ball into the top right corner. Hebert had no chance of saving Mitrovic’s powerful kick, and the Wolverines went up 1-0.
The Badgers were not able to create much on offense for most of the first half, but received a boost right before the break. With the ball on the edge of the box, Martinez faked a shot, confusing the Michigan defense. This allowed him to sneak a pass in between defenders to find Hrojevic, who surgically finished it with his right foot.
Nevertheless, Michigan looked more coordinated on attack and came close to scoring a few times as they ended the first half with five shots. This carried on in the second half.
After defending Michigan’s many attacks well throughout the game, the Badgers finally snapped late. Hebert made an easy save on a Mitrovic shot on goal, but the goalie made the big mistake of letting the ball go. Michigan midfielder Dylan Davis was ready to take advantage of this mishap and struck the ball into the back of the net with only eight minutes remaining.
The Badgers did not manage to comeback in the little time that was left, and the score ended 2-1 for Michigan.
