QUEENS, N.Y. – Behind goals from sophomores
Christopher Mueller and
Mark Segbers, the Wisconsin men's soccer team grinded out a 2-1 road win against St. John's in Queens, New York, on Saturday night.
The Badgers (2-4-0, 1-0-0 Big Ten) played with a lead twice in the game, and while the group allowed the Red Storm (1-6-0) to tie things up in the first half, they closed things out in the second half with their second lead of the game.
"Last year we had a hard-fought game against St. John's and I have a ton of respect for Dr. Dave Masur and his program," UW head coach
John Trask said. "This was another extremely hard-fought game. It was great to see
Mark Segbers get his first goal of the year and then
Christopher Mueller finish off a great set piece goal with a free kick. Team defending and the collective effort tonight was great."
Segbers gave UW an early spark and scored his first goal of the season in the sixth minute. After
Mike Catalano had his shot blocked, Segbers followed and cleaned up the rebound for the score. Segbers led UW in points last year and was tied for the team lead in goals.
Filippo Ricupati equalized in the 24th minute for SJU, scoring inside left post from 10 yards out off an assist from Dela Agbotse.
For the second-straight game, it was Mueller who came up with the game-winner for UW in the second half. After St. John's committed a foul, Mueller lined up a 25-yard free kick and arched it over the wall of defenders, curving it in near left post past SJU goalkeeper Jordan Stagmiller for the score.
It marked Mueller's second goal and game-winner of the season. The sophomore midfielder also scored the game-winning goal in UW's last road game at Rutgers.
After defender
Adam Lauko received his second yellow card of the game, the Badgers were forced to play a man down for the final 10 minutes. UW would hang onto its lead, however, thanks in part to goalkeeper
Adrian Remeniuk. The sophomore made three saves on the night and earned his second win of the year to improve to 2-0-0.
UW won back-to-back games for the first time since the 2013 season.
"We have really challenged these young men with all the traveling we've done the past couple of weeks," Trask said. "There were character-building moments on this road stretch. It's going to be great now to get back home for some games."
Having completed a four-game road stretch, Wisconsin returns home for a three-game homestand that begins Tuesday, Sept. 22 vs. SIUE at 7 p.m. CT at the McClimon Soccer Complex.