By Justin St. Peter Nov. 5, 2014

To most people, a heavy wind is an annoyance. In soccer, a heavy wind completely changes a team’s gameplan. The Warhawks men’s soccer team battled through heavy winds in both games this past week.

The ’Hawks beat conference foes UW-Platteville Pioneers on Oct. 31, 2-0, and then followed that up with a, 1-1, tie against the UW-Oshkosh Titans on Nov. 2.

The win and tie extended the ’Hawks unbeaten streak to 11 games. Their last loss was on Sept. 24 against Carthage College in 4-3 overtime game.

The ’Hawks had more at stake against the Pioneers than just a regular season WIAC soccer game. The game was also for the Shaymus Guinn Cup, in remembrance of head coach Tony Guinn’s son who lost his battle with E-wing sarcoma in December of 2012.

Guinn played soccer at UW-Platteville from 1985-87.

The ’Hawks attacked the Pioneers defense from the start, earning multiple chances before finally scoring goal in the 40th minute.

Junior defender Jordan Wilkins earned a corner kick, and senior midfielder John Gottwald used the wind to his advantage to curl the ball in from the left side to give the ’Hawks the lead. It was Gottwald’s seventh goal of the season.

“Their goalie wasn’t very aggressive, and when that happens, I am told to send the ball in right at the goal,” Gottwald said. “I put in the right spot. It was more of a product of my teammates blocking the goalie from getting to it.”

Before the half ended, the Pioneers goalkeeper was issued a red card and they were forced to play with 10 men for the rest of the match after he collided with Gottwald after the whistle had blown.

“I was looking back at the ball in the air, and I didn’t see the keeper,” Gottwald said. “He saw me and he jumped in the air and put his knee up. He jumped high and his knee caught me in the face.”

Gottwald received six stitches and did not return to the game after going through extensive concussion tests although he did not suffer one.

The ’Hawks outshot the Pioneers 15-1 in the first half with the wind.

Going against the wind in the second half, the ’Hawks continued to threaten the Pioneers goalkeeper.

In the 76th minute, senior defender Kody Mjelde passed it to senior midfielder Michael Montanye. Montanye found senior defender Ryan Reid all alone in front of the goal. Reid scored for his sixth goal of the season.

The goal gave the ’Hawks the 2-0 win. Senior goalkeeper Josh Rohde only had to make one save to earn the win.

“That’s a pretty emotional game for me for obvious reasons,” Guinn said.

The ’Hawks hosted the Titans in their final regular season game of the year.

Once again, the wind was a major factor in the game. The ’Hawks capitalized with the wind at their backs in the first half.

“We have guys that can serve a ball 65-70 yards that could only serve it 20 yards against the wind,” Guinn said.

Junior forward Sam Novak’s throw in found junior forward Michael Salm. Salm was able to boot it past the goalkeeper for his second goal of the season, giving the ’Hawks a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

The Titans tied it up in the 49th minute with the wind at their backs.

Each team came into the game averaging over 16 shots, but the wind caused only five shots per team to be taken. After two scoreless overtime periods, the ’Hawks settled for the tie.

The tie extended their unbeaten streak and gave them the No. 2 seed in the WIAC tournament.

The ’Hawks will host the No. 3 UW-Superior Yellowjackets at 6 p.m. on Nov. 5 in the WIAC semifinals at Fiskum Field. The winner of that game will face the winner of the No. 1 seeded Titans versus UW-Platteville on Nov. 7.

“Throughout every game we have played in the WIAC, we have either won the games or had good opportunities to win,” Gottwald said. “For us, it’s just a matter of finishing chances.”

The ’Hawks battled to a 3-3 tie on the road against UW-Superior earlier in the season.

Guinn said the Yellowjackets have a huge home-field advantage because the fans are standing on the field right behind the team benches yelling at the players, and the ’Hawks do not have to travel to UW-Superior.

“The thing that I think everybody is looking forward to the most is not having to drive six hours,” Guinn said. “That plays a significant factor. It’s pretty hard to drive that far, get off the bus and play a game.”