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 Halfway through the Big Ten Conference men's soccer season, things have gone perfectly for the University of Wisconsin.
Chris Prince scored his fourth goal of the season in the 33rd minute and fellow sophomore Max Jentsch (Hartland Arrowhead) made two saves for the shutout as the Badgers blanked Michigan State 1-0 Sunday afternoon at the McClimon Complex for their third straight win to open conference play.
Prince capped a give-and-go with senior Josh Thiermann (Stoughton) by finishing over sliding Spartans goalkeeper Jeremy Clark, and Jentsch and the UW defense made the narrow advantage stand up the rest of the way.
"We were resolute in our defending, which we talked to the guys about," Badgers coach John Trask said in a news release. "You go down the stretch and it is about those little critical moments in both boxes, we made the plays and defended their plays. It is a fantastic win for the guys."
UW (7-4-2 overall, 3-0-0 Big Ten) outshot Michigan State 7-6 and allowed just one shot on goal in each half as it improved to 3-0-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1995 – the Badgers claimed the most recent of their three conference titles that year, and went on to win the NCAA championship.
The Spartans (4-7-2, 1-2-1) played with 10 men for the final 17 minutes after senior Rubin Bega and freshman Adam Montague – both starters and among Michigan State's top scorers – were red carded for abusive language. Bega was on the field at the time, while Montague was waiting to enter the match.
UW is alone on top of the Big Ten standings and has allowed just one goal in its three conference matches heading into next Sunday's game against second-place Northwestern (7-4-3, 2-0-1) in Evanston, Ill., which will be shown live on the Big Ten Network. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Both teams control their own destiny in the Big Ten, as either team would win the conference title by winning their final three matches. The Wildcats were picked to finish sixth out of the seven teams in the preseason coaches' poll, ahead of only the Badgers. UW junior midfielder Tomislav Zadro saw his personal point-scoring streak come to an end – he had recorded a goal or an assist in 10 consecutive matches for the Badgers, who head north to play UW-Green Bay (6-5-1) in a non-conference match at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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