MADISON, Wis. --The Wisconsin men's soccer team kicked off preseason play with an exciting 1-1 draw against Northern Illinois at the McClimon Soccer Complex on Tuesday.
After the Huskies took an early 1-0 lead in the first half, freshman Blake Carr helped the Badgers pull even just before the halftime break, as the Pewaukee, Wisconsin, native scored near post in the 43rd minute. Sophomore Elan Koenig was credited with the assist on UW's goal.
"I thought Blake (Carr) looked great. I am very pleased with some of the overall play," Wisconsin head coach John Trask said. "We used a lot of players tonight since this was our first time out against opposition and I felt that the guys played well. You always like to win, but that's not the most important thing in preseason. Instead, it's evaluation and giving different guys some looks.
"We have some new pieces on our team that we're excited about this season and they all performed well. It's a more competitive group and when it's more competitive, the little things matter like keeping yourself healthy and not making a mistake in little situations."
In the first half, Adrian Coardos scored the game's first goal for Northern Illinois by capitalizing on an assist from Luke Read and scoring off of a rebounded save by UW goalkeeper Casey Beyers.
Wisconsin was dangerous throughout the game with its corner kick opportunities and finished the game with a 6-1 advantage over NIU in the stat column.
The Badgers bombarded the Huskies with shots, finishing the night with an 18-5 edge in shots and a 9-4 advantage for shots on goal.
Wisconsin goalkeepers Beyers and Philipp Schilling split time evenly in net, as Beyers started the match and Schilling finished things out playing the entire second half. Both Beyers and Schilling finished with one save each, while NIU keepers Eddie Kim and Christopher Koninger combined for eight saves.
"It was a good night considering we're six days into the preseason. Now we'll go test these guys on the road in a very difficult situation against an excellent program in Creighton," Trask added. "I have a lot of respect for the coaches and the program there."
Wisconsin continues preseason action on the road at Creighton on Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. (CT). Creighton advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament last season before losing in double overtime to No. 5 Akron. The Blue Jays finished 2015 with a 19-4 overall record en route to finishing second in the Big East tournament.
