By Emily Leclair

Nov. 18, 2015

The UW-Whitewater men’s soccer team defeated Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on penalty kicks to advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, but fell to Wheaton College 1-0 to bring its season to an end.

“We’ll hold our heads up and we’ll be respectable,” head coach Tony Guinn said.

“It was a really great season with nothing to be ashamed of. We represented the state and this school really well.”

Junior Justin Stanko fired the first shot on goal in the match against Rose-Hulman in the first seven seconds on Nov. 13.

Senior Sam Novak attempted to score in the 36th minute with a header, but it was blocked by the Engineers’ defense.

Stanko had two shots on goal in the 71st, and two minutes later attempted another shot, but both were blocked by the Engineers’ goalie and the match went into the first overtime.

Rose-Hulman had the first and only shot on goal in overtime, and senior goalie Alex Buchman made his fifth save of the game to send the game into a second overtime.

Junior Jordan Kayser had a shot on goal in the 106th minute, but the score remained tied, sending the game down to penalty kicks.

Head coach Tony Guinn opted for a change of goalies for the penalty kicks, sending sophomore Chris Lucatorto into the goal for UW-W.

“It was just the right thing to do, but having said that, Alex Buchman was our best player by far over the weekend,” Guinn said.

The ’Hawks took advantage of its first four penalty kicks by Kayser, Novak and seniors Jordan Wilkins and Kyle Ricely. The Engineers followed with three shots, and Lucatorto blocked the fourth shot.

Stanko took the fifth penalty kick, but it was blocked by the Engineers’ goalie, while Rose-Hulman sent its fifth shot above the net, giving the ’Hawks the win and advancement to the second round of the tournament.

A foul in the 23rd minute of play by UW-W against Wheaton College on Nov. 14 resulted in a penalty kick, giving Wheaton a 1-0 lead, which was held for the remainder of the game.

“They’re a really good team and their keeper made a lot of good saves on the shots we had, and I think we just got outplayed,” Wilkins said.

Freshman Carmel Nezien took a shot early in the second half to tie the game, but it was blocked by the Thunder’s defense.

Sophomre Dylan Hottsmith followed in the 64th minute with a shot on goal, while Buchman had two more saves for UW-W to hold Wheaton to one shot.

Wheaton held UW-W for the next 25 minutes of play to earn the win 1-0 and ending UW-W’s season.

“I think it was great season,” Wilkins said. “We were ranked as high as fifth in the nation which is better than we’ve done since I’ve been here

This was the ’Hawks second consecutive tournament exit in the second round and its third consecutive season with 14 wins.

The team finished the season with an overall record of 14-4-2, and loses five seniors, Buchman, Wilkins, Ricely, Denu and Novak.

“Hopefully, the guys take a short break and we’ll get ready for next year,” Guinn said.