BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Wisconsin men's soccer team saw its season come to a close Sunday afternoon, as the Badgers bowed out of the 2015 Big Ten Tournament in the quarterfinal round with a 1-0 loss to Indiana in Bloomington.
A team that had prided itself on its road success, the No. 7 seed Badgers (5-11-3) were unable to break through and find a game-tying goal against the No. 2 seed Hoosiers (12-4-1) after Femi Hollinger-Janzen scored in the first half and IU went on to shut out Wisconsin at Armstrong Stadium.
UW was unbeaten in five of its last seven road games before Sunday's tournament tilt.
"First off, compliment to Indiana. There's a reason that the team is 9-1-1 in its last 11 games," UW head coach
John Trask said. "They're a very good program. At the beginning we had to survive some scary moments, but anyone who plays Indiana has to do that. I was proud of the way that the guys performed.
"Even with 12 minutes left in the game and us down a man after an unfortunate red card, we were still finding enough. While we were unable to come up with a goal against a very stingy defense, I was proud of the effort from our guys today."
Wisconsin finished the season unbeaten in five of its last eight games.
"I told the guys after the game that it would have been very easy to bail on this season, but they decided to turn it around," Trask said of the Badgers. "This became a team that may not have won every game, but became a very difficult opponent for anyone. There's a lot of positive things taking place within this group. We look forward to getting back to work and continuing to mature this group."
The first 20 minutes of the game were all Indiana, as the Hoosiers controlled possession and built up a number of scoring chances offensively. Indiana finally got on the board in the 22nd minute, as Hollinger-Janzen beat
Matej Radonic on a run and was able to make the Badgers pay, scoring from 10 yards out right side and beating UW keeper
Adrian Remeniuk low at the far post for a 1-0 lead.
Indiana's defense proved stingy from the get-go, as Wisconsin didn't record its first shot until the 21st minute and finished the first half with three shots.
The Hoosiers held a 15-3 advantage in shots at the halftime break, including a 5-0 edge in shots on goal. IU also earned three corner kicks in the first half.
Remeniuk made four of his five saves in the first half alone to help keep the Badgers within a goal.
While the second half was not nearly as offensive, Indiana did its part in locking down defensively and preserving the shutout. IU goalkeeper Colin Webb was only called on to make one save in the game, as the Badgers finished with five shots and registered their lone shot on goal in the game's final minutes.
After
Nick Jones was given a red card in the 78th minute, the Badgers were forced to play a man down the rest of the game. Still, Wisconsin continued to push and fight and gave itself a pair of late chances to tie the game.
Christopher Mueller registered UW's lone shot on goal with a free kick that was tip saved over the cross bar and led to a UW corner kick, which Mueller also took, but was cleared away.
Despite their persistence, the Badgers were ultimately unable to find a late equalizer and their season came to a close as a result.
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