Soccer kicks off with exhibition win

Sophomore Jorge Alvarez (shown here against Lewis) tied the score 1-1 against Wisconsin in Monday’s exhibition match at home.

Men’s soccer kicked off its 2013 season with a 2-1 exhibition win over Big Ten foe Wisconsin Monday night at Flames Field.

The Flames play another exhibition match Aug. 24 at home against Northern Illinois.

The Badgers held a slim 1-0 lead after the first period, but the Flames netted two goals in the final 23 minutes for the comeback victory. The physical contest featured four yellow and two red cards.

“It was great to see some of the success we’ve had in practice transfer into tonight’s game,” said head coach Sean Phillips. “Wisconsin is a quality opponent and I expect them to be near the top of the Big Ten.

“Our returnees showed how much they have grown and some of our newcomers stepped up and played well. You never know what to expect in exhibition games, but I think both teams brought a mid-season mentality tonight.”

The Badgers struck first with 43 seconds left in the first period as Chris Prince converted a header off a long throw-in from the opposite sideline.

The Flames scored their first goal at the 67:14 mark in the second half as senior Slobodan Aleksov assisted sophomore Jorge Alvarez to knot the score at 1-1.

Ten minutes later, redshirt freshman Evan Trychta took advantage of a rebound save and punched in the game-winner just a few yards in front of the net.

“There’s still a lot we need to improve upon,” said Phillips. “We saw a few areas that need to be addressed and we will do that tomorrow morning.”