Under less than favorable conditions, the fifth ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's soccer team lost their final regular season game, 3-2 in overtime, to UW-Platteville Wednesday night in Platteville. The temperature hovered around 40 degrees for most of the night, and rains were intermittent as the Warhawks dropped to 14-3-1 and the Pioneers improved to 9-4-3.

Senior captain Kyle Ricely (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) tried to get the Warhawks on the board early, but his shot in the fourth minute was saved by Pioneer goalkeeper Scott Sibik.

The Pioneers came back with a fierce attack, firing five unanswered shots, scoring on the fifth for a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.

UW-Platteville's lead was short lived as Alex Whiteman (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect) tied the score with an unassisted goal in the 25th minute.

After a foul on Platteville in the 31st minute, Justin Stanko (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) took the free kick and ripped a shot on goal, but Sibik was again there to make the save.

Both teams returned to the field in the second half looking to take the lead. The Pioneers recorded shots in the 45th and 46th minutes, while UW-W retaliated with five unanswered shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Jon Stopple entered the match in the 56th minute for the Pioneers and 27 seconds later he scored a goal to give the home team a 2-1 lead.

Stanko had two opportunities to tie the match as the half wore on. His first chance came in the 73rd minute when his header glanced off the crossbar. The second try came in the 81st minute on another header that was saved by Sibik.

Thirty seconds later Callan Lucjak (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg) received a pass from Jack Wirth(Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee) and knocked it in the goal to tie the game.

Each team recorded one more shot in the final minutes, but both were off target and the match headed to overtime.

Stanko fired the Warhawks' only shot of overtime in the 93rd minute, but it sailed high. Five and a half minutes later the match was over when Logan Rinderknecht pushed one passed the Warhawk keeper to win the game.

The only thing the Warhawks can do now is sit and wait. Since UW-Whitewater men's soccer is no longer part of a conference, the only way their season can continue is by receiving an at-large bid into the NCAA DIII Tournament. The announcement of the 61-team field is on Monday, November 9th at 12:30 pm on NCAA.com. Check back to uwwsports.com for more information.

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