The UW-Whitewater men’s soccer team (3-2) had their first hat trick in a decade, but were only able to win one of two games Sept. 8 and Sept. 10 in Minnesota.

The Warhawks defeated Augsburg College 4-1 on Sept. 8 in Minneapolis, Minnesota behind junior forward Peter Raymonds’ three-goal performance.

“Peter having that hat trick is special,” head coach Tony Guinn said. “He’s got to be one of the most threatening forwards in the country this year.”

Two days later, the men’s soccer team was only able to muster four shots and fell 2-1 against Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In UW-W’s first game, Raymonds got the scoring started early after he dribbled down the left side of the pitch and shot across for a goal in the 10th minute.

Twelve minutes later, Raymonds stole the ball from 30 yards out and converted on the opportunity with a goal and put UW-W up 2-0.

Raymonds final goal of the game came in the 66th minute off a penalty kick.

Sophomore midfielder Kevin Mesich described what it’s been like to play with Raymonds, a transfer from UW-Milwaukee.

“Playing with Peter is great,” Mesich said. “Having him coming from Milwaukee was by far the best thing that’s happened to this team in a while. He’s just a natural goal scorer, and he’s a great person off the field, too.”

The Warhawks fell behind early in their second game when Macalester senior midfielder Jake Burke nailed a penalty kick in the 8th minute.

In the 22nd minute, UW-W evened the score at 1-1. Junior forward Henry Raymonds booted a long pass down the right side of the field to Peter Raymonds, who drove the ball into the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season.

After halftime in the 62nd minute, Burke notched his second goal for Macalester.

Junior defender Brian Zimdars said the defense needed to put in more work against Macalester.

“We just need to stay focus a little more,” Zimdars said. “We allowed a penalty kick and then the second one we just lost our guy and he scored.”

Even with the defensive lapses, UW-W had several opportunities to equalize late.

First, in the 83rd minute with a shot on goal by junior midfielder Taylor Ortiz, which was saved by Macalester junior goalie Colton Wenig. Four minutes later, the Warhawks were awarded a corner kick, but failed to get anything off the set piece.

Guinn noted several issues that led to the Warhawks’ offensive woes in the team’s second game.

“We physically struggled to deal with their [Macalester] athleticism and the pressure they put on us,” Guinn said.

The Warhawks will hit the road once again to take on Concordia University on Sept. 16 in Mequon, Wisconsin.