Wisconsin Soccer Central

The University of Wisconsin men's soccer team put together some nice passing sequences in their season opener Saturday night against Western Illinois.

When it came to the only goal of the night, though, style went out the window.

Junior right back Kyle McCrudden corralled a loose ball at the top of the 6-yard box after a free kick and scored his second career goal in the 68th minute to lift the Badgers to a 1-0 victory over the Leathernecks in front of 619 fans at the McClimon Complex.

"I told them at halftime I figured it was going to be that type of goal, just bouncing around the box," UW coach John Trask said. "I said, 'Stay on your toes. It's going to drop to someone, just kick it into the back of the net.' "

Junior midfielder Tomislav Zadro, one of seven players making their UW debuts, played a key role in the Badgers' attack all night – including the goal.

"You could tell he's a special player," Trask said of Zadro, a transfer from Illinois Central.

Working across the middle of the field to the left side, Zadro drew a foul from Western Illinois midfielder Ephraim Okeke and lined up the free kick about 28 yards out. His low, driven ball got through the wall and pinged around the 6-yard box in front of Leathernecks freshman goalkeeper Andre Nichols before McCrudden collected it and fired past Nichols for his second goal in 21 career games.

"It was just kind of a bunch of people in the box, a little scrum, and the ball popped out to me," said McCrudden, who led the Badgers in minutes played last season mainly as a central defender. "I was coming onto the ball, which was kind of nice – Colin (Mani) had his back to the goal and he was going to take it, but I called it and got my left foot on it, got a good shot and it went in."

The Badgers were able to close out their fourth straight home win dating to last season, all coming by shutout, but not without a few close calls.

Western Illinois senior midfielder Alexis Dominguez caused UW trouble with his work on the left flank, firing in a pair of dangerous crosses late. The first was headed over the crossbar by Diego Gonzalez in the 87th, and the second was a header by Nathan Bruinsma that flashed wide of the goal in the 89th.

McCrudden, center backs Mani (Madison Edgewood) and freshman AJ Cochran and left back Trevor Wheeler all played the full 90 minutes on the back line in front of sophomore keeper Ciro Martinez, a transfer from Florida Atlantic.

Martinez made three saves in the clean sheet, including one huge one in the opening 15 minutes. Western Illinois' Charlie Bales got the ball with plenty of space on the right side in the 12th minute and when no one closed him down, the sophomore right back let loose from about 35 yards out. Martinez was able to tip the ball up off the top corner of the goal on the far side, denying Bales what would have been a highlight-reel strike.

"That was a great save," McCrudden said. "That could've changed the game right there if he didn't get a tip on it."

Instead, the game changed in the 63rd minute – when Trask subbed on Arnel Zahirovic.

The senior was a mainstay as a center back last season with McCrudden, but came in and teamed with sophomore Blake Succa in a defensive midfield role.

"I thought the game swung back in our direction when we put him in," Trask said. "I felt we had two attacking midfielders and they were kind of playing through us with that little three-man rotation they do. And it seemed like the game was shifting for them, and then all of a sudden we put Arnie in ... and his performance shifted the weight back. We got the goal pretty quickly after that.

"But it wasn't just the goal. It was a senior captain coming in and doing the little things, and all of a sudden they weren't able to play through us."

It made for a lot of smiling faces after the game, as players gathered to sign autographs for fans. The Badgers head to Blacksburg, Va., for a pair of matches next weekend, Friday against the host Hokies and Sunday against No. 22 Virginia.

"There's a lot of work to be done," McCrudden said, "but we're happy with the win and it can only get better from here."

From the touchline

Sophomore forward Chris Prince, a second-team All-Big Ten Conference pick and the Badgers' leading scorer last season, left the match with a sprained ankle in the 30th minute and didn't return. ... Defender-midfielder Paul Yonga, a Big Ten All-Freshman team selection and the only player to start all 20 matches for the Badgers last season, was on the sidelines because of a sprained ankle. ... Trask had praise for both of his center backs: "Obviously, AJ Cochran is a dominant central defender," he said. "Colin Mani, a senior captain, I thought he was real rock solid tonight." ... Martinez, Cochran, Zadro and senior forward Josh Thiermann (Stoughton), a transfer from Notre Dame, started in their first UW appearances. Three more players made their debuts coming off the bench: junior midfielder Jerry Maddi, a transfer from Eastern Illinois; freshman forward Jacob Brindle; and forward Mike Roettgers (Milwaukee Marquette), a transfer from Saint Louis. ... Nichols made four saves in his collegiate debut for Western Illinois in place of injured senior Andy Ryan. Nichols' biggest stop came against Prince on a mini-break during the sequence that resulted in Prince's injury.

Wisconsin – Kyle McCrudden 68

WISCONSIN: Ciro Martinez; Trevor Wheeler, AJ Cochran, Colin Mani, Kyle McCrudden; David Caban, Blake Succa, Tomislav Zadro, Nick Janus; Chris Prince, Josh Thiermann. Substitutes: Jerry Maddi, Jacob Brindle, Derek Pitts, Mike Roettgers, Arnel Zahirovic.

WESTERN ILLINOIS: Andre Nichols; Aaron Winkelmann, Aaron Appel, Hilary Esangbedo, Charlie Bales; Kooten Johnson, Ephraim Okeke, Husref Jupic, Daniel Lewis; David Puka, Alexis Dominguez. Substitutes: Ebenezer Mengistu, Nathan Bruinsma, Torrance Brown, Drew Edmond, Adrian Loyocano, Diego Gonzalez.

Saves: W 3 (Martinez 3), WI 4 (Nichols 4). Shots: W 18, WI 14. Fouls: W 9, WI 11. Corner kicks: W 7, WI 3. Offsides: W 1, WI 0. Discipline: W – Okeke (caution-foul, 48). Att. — 619.