By Emily Leclair

Oct. 28, 2015

Two wins shy of tying the school record for wins set in 2005, the UW-Whitewater men’s soccer team has one game left in its regular season before awaiting the announcement of the NCAA D-III tournament field on Nov. 9.

“I think we’re in a good position right now to make the tournament,” head coach Tony Guinn said. “That’s the main goal, hosting it, not hosting it, just getting in is a big accomplishment.

UW-W ended last week with a win against the University of Dubuque 3-2 and a 31-year rivalry against UW-Oshkosh ending in a double overtime draw 0-0.

The ’Hawks came back twice to earn the win against Dubuque on Oct. 21 which is Guinn’s third-consecutive season where he has reached 14 wins.

Dubuque took an early lead, scoring three minutes into the first half. Sophomore Dylan Hottsmith attempted to tie the game two minutes later and twice in the 23rd minute, but were blocked by Dubuque’s goalie.

In the 25th minute, Hottsmith tied the game with a goal off a pass from junior Justin Stanko.

Eight minutes later, Dubuque regained its lead, ending the first half with a 2-1 advantage over UW-W.

Senior Sam Novak tied the game early in the second half, scoring his fourth goal of the season.

Both teams continued to trade possessions until the 80th minute when freshman Derick Achombom placed a pass to Wilkins who headed in the goal to win the game 3-2. It was Wilkins first goal of the season.

Sophomore Chris Lucatorto earned his first win of the season in the goal with one save.

On Oct. 24, UW-W headed to Oshkosh to play in a 31-year rivalry match that resulted in double overtime. This was the sixth time in 34 matches that Oshkosh and UW-W have gone into overtime.

“Obviously, we would have liked to win, but it’s not the worst thing for us because they’re a nationally ranked team and tying a nationally ranked team isn’t that bad,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins started off the game with a shot on goal four minutes into the first half.

Both teams continued to keep pressure on each other, firing shots throughout the first half, but headed into the half tied 0-0.

The ’Hawks started off the second half right away with Hottsmith firing a shot on goal in the 54th minute.

Novak was issued his second yellow card of the game in the 63rd minute, resulting in a red card and his removal from the game.

“I didn’t expect him to be ejected, but I think the team did a good job of rallying and playing without him,” Wilkins said.

Oshkosh continued to fire four more shots within the next 10 minutes to keep the pressure on the ’Hawks.

UW-W attempted to take the lead in the 78th minute when Stanko fired a shot on goal that was knocked out of bounds, resulting in a corner kick. Sophomore Kyle Clancy took the kick for UW-W, but no goal resulted.

Buchman had a save in the first overtime, and again just 35 seconds into the second overtime to keep the score 0-0 and end the match in a draw.

“I think that game resulted the way it should have been,” Guinn said. “I think they had some quality opportunities, we had some quality opportunities and a draw was a good result.”

UW-W will play its last game of the regular season at 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 against UW-Platteville.