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 The Milwaukee Bavarians made the trip to the Twin Cities for a pair of National Premier Soccer League Midwest Division matches with just 13 players.
Then in the first half of Saturday night's game against the St. Paul Twin Stars, they had to use both of their available substitutes because of injuries.
But that didn't stop the Bavarians from posting a second straight impressive victory to start the season.
UW-Platteville's Mark Ciszewski (Germantown), added to the roster earlier in the week, came off the bench and scored twice in a 3-1 victory over the Twin Stars that included a 45-minute delay for severe weather.
"I'm just impressed with my team, how they played," said Bavarians coach Andreas Davi, whose roster is depleted this weekend because of injuries, graduation ceremonies and celebrations and international team trips.
To make matters worse, Marquette midfielder Chris Madsen (Brookfield Central) pulled his hamstring in the 23rd minute and center back Tim Lancina (Shorewood) suffered an ankle injury in the 42nd.
UW-Parkside forward Cyril Simmons scored his second goal in as many matches to open the scoring for the Bavarians (2-0-0) in the 13th minute, chasing down a ball from UW-Parkside's Collin Monahan (East Troy) and chipping the onrushing goalkeeper.
After St. Paul (1-1-0) equalized, Ciszewski put Milwaukee ahead again just before halftime and it was still 2-1 in the 49th when thunderstorms hit the area and a tornado warning caused the lengthy delay.
Davi dropped Marquette's Charlie Hoover (Whitefish Bay) from defensive midfield to center back to replace Lancina, and the Bavarians kept their backline tight.
"We played defensive," Davi said. "We gave them half the field, but they didn't know what to do, because they couldn't stretch us."
Ciszewski – who had three goals in 13 appearances as a sophomore at UW-Platteville last fall – added an insurance goal in the 56th, taking a pass from UW-Milwaukee's Riley Weiner (Muskego) and finishing off a counter attack with the Bavarians' sixth goal of the young season. Marquette goalkeeper David Check (Mequon Homestead) made two big saves in the final minutes to preserve the two-goal lead.
In addition to Ciszewski, Davi also added UW-Milwaukee defender James Ashcroft to his team's roster this week, but the Englishman wasn't available for this weekend's matches.
"A great addition," Davi said of Ashcroft, a former youth and reserve team player at Tranmere Rovers and Liverpool who was planning to play with the Chicago Fire in the USL Premier Development League this summer.
The injuries to Lancina and Madsen mean the Bavarians will only have 11 available players for Sunday afternoon's game against Minnesota Kings FC.
MILWAUKEE BAVARIANS LINEUP: David Check; Luke Davey, Tim Lancina (Shay Douglas 42), Andrew Krenzien, Collin Monahan; Charlie Hoover, Kinkade Lo; Riley Weiner, Chris Madsen (Mark Ciszewski 23), Robbie Boyd; Cyril Simmons. Substitutes not used: None.
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