MADISON, Wis. – The new Wisconsin men’s soccer era with Neil Jones at the helm got off to a nearly perfect start, with a pair of quality home performances, but the Badgers (1-0) will now test themselves with three consecutive road contests over the next nine days.
Here are five things to know
1 – FINNEGAN FINISHING: Junior forward Jack Finnegan opened some eyes and earned some national recognition for his offensive production during the first week. Finnegan scored a goal on a nifty Badger passing combination, then set one up with a slick pass of his own in the Badgers 5-0 win against Utah Tech. He then struck for the first two goals of the game against No. 11 Tulsa on Sunday to help UW to a 3-0 lead that would eventually be wiped out by severe weather.
Finnegan was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for his efforts.
2 – ROAD OPENERS: Wisconsin hits the road, but just down I-94 to Milwaukee for a 7 p.m. matchup at Engelmann Field. The Badgers are 20-15-6 in the all-time series against the Panthers as a varsity program, including 9-1-3 over the last 14 meetings. The last win in Milwaukee came in 2015, but UW is just 0-1-1 there since that time. In UW’s 2-0 win in Madison during 2021, Inaki Iribarren scored both goals.
Last season, the Badgers’ road opener also took place in Milwaukee, but at Marquette, where UW captured a 1-0 double overtime victory on a Jack Finnegan score.
3 – NEIL JONES FIRSTS: Neil Jones earned his first victory as a Badger head coach last Thursday, and made his first in-person news conference appearance with the Madison media this Monday, discussing his team with local media.
4 – RECAPPING THE WEEK: The Badgers jumped out of the 2022 gate with a 5-0 home victory over Utah Tech last Thursday. Three first-half goals gave the Badgers comfort, with transfers Matt Chandler and Maxwell Keenan scoring in the first 30 minutes. Finnegan closed out the first-half scoring, before a pair of second-half penalty kicks by Inaki Iribarren made it 5-0.
Sunday, UW grabbed a 3-0 lead against No. 11 Tulsa with three goals during a nine-minute span of the second half – two from Finnegan and one from Iribarren – before severe weather halted the game for good in the 68th minute, 75 seconds shy of it becoming an official result.
5 – HOW TO FOLLOW:…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Wisconsin Badgers…