Josh Rohde (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) made eight saves en route to his second consecutive shutout as the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's soccer team defeated North Central (Ill.) 2-0 Saturday night at Fiskum Field in Whitewater. Less than 24 hours ago the Warhawks (6-3-1) defeated Augustana (Ill.) on the road 1-0.

Possession favored the Warhawks for much of the first half. UW-Whitewater fired off four shots to the Cardinals' one in the first 25 minutes of play. The Warhawks earned a corner at 29:16 and John Gottwald (South Milwaukee, Wis./South Milwaukee) found the head of Ty McCoy (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) to give the Warhawks a 1-0 lead.

North Central posted a flurry of shots in the final five minutes of the first half, but Rohde came up big, making back-to-back saves to preserve the lead and head into halftime with a 1-0 advantage.

Rohde made another stop in the first two minutes of the second half and was tested again at 53:52. On a counterattack Sam Novak (Milton, Wis./Milton) found Gottwald for his third goal of the season and a 2-0 UW-Whitewater lead. Gottwald leads the team in goals (3) and assists (5) at the midpoint of the season.

As the half went on the Cardinals amped up their attack. Rohde was tested again in the 74th minute, but again made the save. Just like the end of the first half, the Cardinals went on a tear the last few minutes of the game. Rohde made one save on a shot by Cardinal forward Lucas Habeeb at 86:54, but the ball went back to Habeeb and he had another opportunity. This time Ryan Reid (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) cleared the ball off the line with his head to save his goalkeeper's shutout and the win.
 
The Warhawks outshot the Cardinals 17-13 in the game, including a 12-5 advantage in the second half.
 
"This is a great result after playing another team that came in with a really great record," remarked UW-Whitewater coach Tony Guinn after the game. "After playing three games in four days I think the guys feel good about how they played. We only had about 12 hours of rest before turning around to play again today."
 
The Warhawks will take a few days off before their next game against Concordia (Wis.) on Wednesday, October 1st at 4 pm in Mequon.

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