Spring Break
'Hawks and Titans battle for WIAC championship
Men's soccer team has regular season finale Saturday
Ryan Lyke
Issue date: 11/4/09 Section: Sports
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And if their recent play is any indication of what will happen this weekend, the Warhawks could walk away with a share of the title.
The Warhawks have won six of their last seven games and have shut out four of their last seven opponents.
But junior midfielder Dan Montanye knows the Titans will be a test.
"We have to make our shots low and on target when we get them on goal," Montanye said. "We have to play smart and make sure we have no critical turnovers around midfield and the backline."
But it won't be an easy task to accomplish, as the Titans are 13-3-2 overall and are the WIAC leader in points, goals and almost all offensive and defensive categories.
Nevertheless, Montanye would like nothing more than the 'Hawks, who are tied with UW-Platteville and UW-Oshkosh at 2-0-1, to take home the first ever WIAC men's soccer title.
"Winning the conference championship is definitely on our minds," Montanye said. "It would be real important to win the first conference championship, which is something that would go down in school history."
A prime reason the 'Hawks are in this position is because of junior forward Luke Buchholz.
Buchholz has been the team's catalyst and is the conference leader in goals scored with 11.
But he credits his teammates for his success throughout the season.
"Any success that I've had in terms of statistics has been a direct result of playing on a very good team," Buchholz said. "It's not difficult for me to score goals when my team creates so many chances for me."
Buchholz's teammates rave about his ability to put the ball in the net.
"Luke does a good job when he's holding the ball," Montanye said. "He's a very effective player. He is a very reliable scorer who puts goals away when given the opportunity."
In an Oct. 25 game against the University of Chicago, Buchholz scored the game-winning goal in the final 15 seconds, despite being injured.
He doesn't expect to miss too much time, however.
"I tore my LCL in my knee against Chicago," Buchholz said. "I'm questionable to play in the Oshkosh game, but I should be back soon."
As far as the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the 'Hawks are hoping to take care of that on Saturday, rather than be left waiting in limbo to find out their fate.
"I'd rather not leave that decision up to other people," Buchholz said. "We'll just put forth the effort to get a win against Oshkosh on Saturday."
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