Badgers teach Big Ten soccer

By Bob Regan

Class was in session at Huskie Stadium last night as the Badgers of Wisconsin gave the NIU soccer team a lesson in Big Ten soccer.

Coach Willy Roy and his players fell victim by a score of 3-0 in the Huskies’ final home appearance of the season with no chance at finishing the regular season with a winning record.

“The quickness and speed of the Badger team was too much,” coach Roy said. “They totally gave us a soccer lesson, and they are just a better team than we are. We tried, but they never gave us a chance.”

Brad Hickey went to the blackboard first for Wisconsin by scoring from eight yards on the assist by Brian Dawson with 12:20 off the clock. The Huskies tried to answer the goal but came up empty as the half ended.

Just more than 15 minutes into the second half, Badger ace Jim Froslid put the ball to the back of the net with the assist credited to Steve Rose. Froslid’s goal bumped his point total up to 22 on 10 goals and two assists.

Badger forward Brett LaFerrera closed the book on the Huskies’ lesson with the game’s final goal from 10 yards coming at 85:49 in the match, which sent NIU fans home looking to next year.

The Huskies only were able to put together three shots on goal during the night compared to WU’s 7.

Badger goalkeeper Bob Kollasch recorded his seventh shutout of the year, while having allowed only 14 goals on the season. Kollasch’s 0.78 goals against average will improve as a result of the shutout.

NIU has not scored a goal in the last 90-plus minutes of play. The 2-0 loss to Cincinnati last Saturday was the beginning of the Huskies’ scoreless streak.

When coach Roy was asked to give recognition to someone on his team, he turned the question around and gave credit were credit was due.

“The Wisconsin team—they have more to do with making us look bad than we have to do with it,” Roy said. “They (Wisconsin) seemed to play well on AstroTurf. It’s like they were tailor-made for the surface.”

Prior to the game, the Huskie fans gave recognition to three NIU players who were making their final appearance on the turf of the stadium. Seniors Jim Pisani, Vincent “Junior” Matthews and Tim O’Keefe all took a bow.

With the loss to Wisconsin, the Huskies’ record stands at 6-8-1 overall. The win gave the Badgers their eighth-straight win over NIU in a series that has Wisconsin up 11-2-1.