OMAHA, Neb. -- It was an exciting finale to the preseason for the Wisconsin men's soccer team, as the Badgers defeated No. 7 Creighton in an impressive 3-1 final on Saturday night behind goals from juniors Christopher Mueller, Tom Barlow and Mark Segbers.

"I just want to give congratulations to our guys. This was a really good team performance," UW head coach John Trask said. "It was nice to finish off some plays, which was something that we discussed and it was nice to see that improvement.
 
"I have a lot of respect for the Creighton program and their coaching staff. While it was a long trip, it was well worthwhile because it was such a great place to play a collegiate soccer game whether its preseason or a regular season game. They had to have close to 2,000 people here tonight and it was an awesome environment."

Wisconsin held the lead the entire game after Mueller helped get the team on the board first in the first half. Creighton only scored late in the second half when Ricardo Perez found the back of the net for the Blue Jays with their lone goal in the 87th minute.

The Badgers capitalized on a golden scoring opportunity in the first half and never looked back. After Segbers drew a foul that resulted in a penalty kick, Mueller took the PK and struck in the shot to give Wisconsin the early 1-0 advantage in the 30th minute.

Wisconsin was firing off shots in the first half, outshooting Creighton 8-6, but the Badgers weren't even close to done yet, as they came out blazing in the second half. 
 
In the 67th minute, Barlow dribbled into the six-yard box and blasted in a goal unassisted to give UW a 2-0 lead. Just seconds later, Barlow's fellow St. Louis native, Segbers, wanted to get in on the action too, firing in a goal in the 68th minute of the match.
 
"It was a great goal by Tom Barlow, a great goal by Mark and a great play to earn the penalty kick that Chris took that magnificently. All three of those moments were very well done," Trask said of the goals.

Philipp Schilling and Casey Beyers split time in the net at goalkeeper for Wisconsin. Schilling played nearly 67 minutes and tallied one save, while Beyers saw 23 minutes of action and had two saves, but allowed one goal. Creighton's goalkeeper Alex Kapp compiled six saves.

The Badgers outshot the Blue Jays in the first half, but CU attempted eight shots in the second half and outshot UW 14-13. However, Wisconsin was dominant in the shots on goal category, outshooting Creighton 9-4. CU had five corner kicks while UW had three.

"I thought the details that you need to win against a very good program on the road were there," Trask said. "We had a stingy defense and good principles. We took our chances and made plays, starting with the penalty kick. It was a good overall performance and I think the guys are mature enough to know that the focus turns immediately to our first game of the season next Friday night in front of our fans."

Having completed its two-game preseason, Wisconsin returns to the McClimon Complex in Madison for its season opener on Aug. 26 against Santa Clara at 7:30 p.m. (CT).