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 For the second straight year, the University of Wisconsin men's soccer team advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament.
Sophomore midfielder Nick Janus scored in the 84th minute and senior forward Josh Thiermann (Stoughton) added an insurance goal in the 89th as the third-seeded Badgers blanked No. 6 seed Michigan 2-0 in a quarterfinal Wednesday night in breezy Ann Arbor, Mich. (Video highlights)
"We did a lot of good things," UW coach John Trask said in a news release.
UW (10-7-2) will play seventh-seeded Penn State (8-8-4) at 2:30 p.m. Friday with a spot in Sunday's final on the line. The Badgers' only appearances in the championship game came in the inaugural 1991 event and in 1993.
The Nittany Lions lost all six of their Big Ten regular-season matches, including a 1-0 double-overtime loss to UW last Saturday that was decided on a last-minute penalty kick, but upset No. 2 seed Ohio State 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
Success at the Big Ten tournament has been rare for Badgers: Wednesday's win was just the third for UW in the event since 1996 (3-12-2). However, combined with 2010, when they got past Ohio State on penalty kicks following a tie in the quarterfinals, the Badgers will play in the semifinals in back-to-back years for the first time since 1995 and '96.
The Badgers attacked in the first half with the wind, which gusted up to 40 mph, at their backs and had the better of the play in the opening 45 minutes but couldn't break through. While the Wolverines (5-14-1) had more chances after the break, UW still went forward into the teeth of the wind.
"They were hard to break down," said Trask, whose team scored two early goals and held off Michigan 2-1 back on Oct. 9 on the same field. "We did a great job of managing the game. Every guy played well. We played with confidence. We attacked well. I can't single anyone out."
After putting pressure on throughout – sophomore midfielder Joey Tennyson (Menomonee Falls) had four shots saved by Adam Grinwis, who also stopped UW freshman midfielder David Caban (Kenosha Tremper) on a partial breakaway in the 58th – UW finally solved Grinwis in the final 10 minutes.
Junior midfielder Tomislav Zadro played a long cross from the left side to Janus, who bent a shot into the left corner of the net for his third goal of the season. It was Zadro's team-best eighth assist of the year, and the left-footed playmaker has had a hand in 14 of the Badgers' 25 goals this season.
"It was a fantastic goal by Janus," Trask said.
Thiermann took advantage of a rare mistake by Grinwis (seven saves) in the final minutes, picking up his fourth goal of the year after finishing into an open net.
Sophomore keeper Max Jentsch (Hartland Arrowhead) made three saves in his fifth clean sheet of the season – he made a diving stop on a drive by Noble Sullivan in the 31st, parried away a long-range shot by Latif Alashe in the 55th and turned aside Tyler Arnone's shot in the 85th.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
At Ann Arbor, Mich.
Wednesday's quarterfinals
No. 1 Northwestern received bye
No. 4 Indiana 2, No. 5 Michigan State 1
No. 7 Penn State 2, No. 2 Ohio State 0
No. 3 Wisconsin 2, No. 6 Michigan 0
Friday's semifinals
No. 1 Northwestern (10-4-4) vs. No. 4 Indiana (12-3-4), noon BTN
No. 3 Wisconsin (10-7-2) vs. No. 7 Penn State (8-8-4), 2:30 p.m. BTN
Sunday's championship
Semifinal winners, 11 a.m. BTN
Note: Winner receives automatic NCAA tournament berth
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