The men’s soccer team hit the road twice this week and ended up splitting its games against out of state competition.

Whitewater first traveled to Wartburg College [Iowa] that ended with a 3-0 shutout loss.

The Warhawks got off to a rough start as Wartburg scored three goals within the first 28 minutes to take an early lead.  From then on, UW-W played well but the early deficit proved too difficult to overcome.

“We just don’t have the depth right now,” Whitewater head coach Tony Guinn said. “I had to step in and play at practice so that we could play 11 v. 11.”

The Warhawks would go on to out-shoot Wartburg 19-11, including 10 shots in the second half, but they could never find the back of the net.

“From a team perspective we clearly didn’t get the result we wanted to” senior midfielder Kyle Clancy said. “But looking at the game as a whole I think there was a lot of positives we can take away.”

Clancy and fellow senior defender Jack Wirth each had shots on goal late in the game but both were saved by Wartburg goalkeeper Koebke Barsic.

Substitute goalkeeper Jake King was able to record three second half saves for the Warhawks after checking into the game.

Whitewater was able to recover from its first loss in time to travel to Alma, Michigan on Saturday and pull out a 4-1 victory over Alma College.

The game was tied 1-1 at the half, but the Warhawks were able to rattle off three unanswered goals in the second half to secure the victory on the road.  The Warhawks outshot Alma by a margin of 28-11 for the game.

Four different Warhawks scored goals with Clancy recording the only assist.  Wirth along with juniors Henry Raymonds, Hozai Ceballos and Yushihiko Fukushima each scored goals.

“With it being a six hour drive, I think the most important thing for us is to get off the bus and start the game hot,” Clancy said. “We kind of started slow last game and dug ourselves a hole. So just not digging the hole again this week and coming out firing out on all cylinders will be key for us to be successful.”

After four straight games on the road, the Warhawks will finally return home for eight straight home matches.

“It’s the nature of the beast,” Guinn said. “Being an independent we have to play a really difficult schedule.”

The Warhawks will return to action on Oct. 1 against Loras College at Fiskum Field.