A goal in each half carried the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over UW-Platteville Friday night at Fiskum Field in Whitewater. With the win, the Warhawks (12-3-3, 2-0-1) retain the Shaymus Guinn Cup in its second year of existence. The inaugural match was played last season with the Warhawks earning a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 victory on a last second goal on the road at UW-Platteville. The cup was created to honor Shaymus Guinn, son of UW-Whitewater head coach Tony Guinn, who passed away in December 2012 at the age of 11 after a five-year battle against E-Wing Sarcoma and chemo-induced acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

To say the game was intense might be an understatement. The rivalry between these two teams goes back far beyond the Shaymus Guinn Cup. This game marked the 38th time the Warhawks and Pioneers have met, and for the better part of that time the Warhawks have come out ahead holding a 24-11-3 advantage in the all-time series. Beyond the Shaymus Guinn Cup, the Warhawks had a lot at stake entering tonight's match; a win kept them in the hunt for the regular season conference crown and pushed their unbeaten streak to 10.

The Warhawks, playing with the wind in the first half, put pressure on the Pioneers early earning three corner kicks in the first five and a half minutes. One of those corner kicks almost resulted in an early goal but Sam Novak (Milton, Wis./Milton)'s header hit the post.  Ryan Reid (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) and John Gottwald (South Milwaukee, Wis./South Milwaukee) both put shots on goal in the 21st minute but Pioneer goalkeeper Scott Sibik made the stop on both. Reid had another opportunity in the 28th minute but a Pioneer defender standing on the goal line knocked it out to preserve the tie.

Jordan Wilkins (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) fired a shot on goal in the 40th minute that Sibik had to punch out of play leading to a corner for UW-Whitewater. Gottwald took the corner from the left side and bent it into the goal with his right foot for his seventh goal of the season and a 1-0 Warhawk lead.

Moments later the Warhawks regained possession and sent a ball deep into UW-Platteville territory but was whistled for offsides. The moment the whistle blew there was a collision between Gottwald and Sibik near the top of the goal box. Sibik was issued a red card, removed from the game, and the Pioneers had to play with ten players the rest of the way.

The intensity cranked up another notch in the second half as six fouls were whistled in the first eight minutes of action. UW-Whitewater continued to apply pressure even when playing against the wind. In the 54th minute Skyler Weishaar (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) launched a shot from outside the goal box that substitute goalkeeper Cristian Flores stopped. Flores made another save in the 70th minute on a header by Justin Stanko (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North).

With less than fifteen minutes remaining in the match Kody Mjelde (Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo) connected with Michael Montanye (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) who found a wide open Ryan Reid (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) in front of the goal. Reid booted it past the keeper for his sixth goal of the season and a 2-0 UW-Whitewater lead.

At the other end of the field Josh Rohde (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) made a save with less than ten minutes to go to preserve the shutout. That was the Pioneers' only shot on goal in the match. UW-Whitewater outshot the visitors 21-3 and earned 10 corner kicks to zero for UW-Platteville. There were a total of 33 fouls and seven cautions issued in the match.

Coach Guinn was pleased with his team's effort, "I'm proud of the guys. This was a good result in difficult conditions." The temperature hovered around 35 degrees for much of the game, including wind gusts from 15-20 miles per hour.

UW-Whitewater will return to the pitch on Sunday, November 2nd for their final regular season game against UW-Oshkosh at 1 pm at Fiskum Field. If the Warhawks win, they will secure the WIAC title for the first time in three years.

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