WHITEWATER, Wis. – The University of Dubuque men's soccer team traveled to Whitewater on Tuesday to face the UW-Whitewater Warhawks. The Spartans held the lead for the majority of the match but ultimately fell short, losing 2-1 to the Warhawks.
From the opening whistle, it was a hard-fought battle between both teams, with each side creating opportunities to open the scoring. The best chance for the Spartans came in the 27th minute, when a header off a set piece forced the Warhawks goalkeeper to stretch to keep the ball out of the net. Just a few minutes later, at 34:40, the Spartans found the first goal of the day. A long throw-in was launched into the penalty area, where
Brady Wagner's initial shot was saved off the line. The ball fell perfectly to
Jake Polacek, who found the back of the net for his second goal of the season. The Spartans maintained their 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
After halftime, the pressure from the Warhawks continued to increase. The Spartans held strong defensively for nearly the entire half until the 74th minute, when UW-Whitewater was awarded a penalty kick and converted to level the match at 1-1. The Spartans continued to battle to keep the score level, but in the 83rd minute, the Warhawks found the go-ahead goal to take a 2-1 lead. The Spartans pushed forward in search of an equalizer but ultimately ran out of time, falling 2-1 to UW-Whitewater.
Leading the way for the Spartans in today's matchup was
Jake Polacek, who scored the lone goal for Dubuque.
Brady Wagner was credited with the assist. In goal, freshman
Tyler Jerkins made six saves in the match.
Up Next
The Spartans will return to their home turf on Friday, September 18, to host the Elmhurst University Bluejays. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Oyen Field.
