After three games without scoring, the Washington University men’s soccer team scored on Sunday, but the goal was not enough and the Bears lost to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, 2-1, falling to 6-6-1 on the year.

The match began with both sides pushing on the attacking front. In the opening minutes, both defenses stood firm. However, in the 18th minute, the Platteville attack broke through the Bears’ defense when Platteville’s David Regan fired a shot past Wash. U. sophomore keeper Matt Martin to put his team up 1-0 inside 20 minutes.

The Bears responded to the goal by upping the intensity of their attack. Platteville’s celebrations proved to be short-lived, as in the 31st minute the Red and Green found an equalizer. A beautiful dish from sophomore Nolan Wolf put junior Will Sproule in a great position to level the scores. Sproule took a touch, kept his composure and calmly slotted the ball away to knot the score at one with 15 minutes to go in the first half.

For the rest of the game, both sides fervently hunted for the elusive second goal. The Bears found a lot of good opportunities to take the lead in the second. However, Platteville goalkeeper Nate Miller had one of his best games of the season, finishing the game with 10 saves and successfully keeping the Bears out of the Platteville net.

After almost another full half of no goals, Platteville found themselves with a great opportunity to win the game in the 87th minute with a corner kick. Regan whipped in a probing ball into the box, putting the Bears’ defense in a compromising position. Platteville’s marksman Jack Gentilli provided a killer finish for the go-ahead goal. In the time that remained, the Red and Green did all that they could to find a late equalizer. But the Platteville defense refused to crack under the pressure, and the Bears could not find another goal to even the score.

The month of October has been one to forget for Wash. U. The Bears had been looking to bounce back from a three-game losing streak and build some good momentum heading into the business end of the season. With Sunday’s loss, they finish their four-game road trip winless. Next weekend, the Bears will get to return to Francis Olympic Field for their final two home games on the season against Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve University. Those games will be Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., respectively.

After saying a bittersweet farewell to their seniors, the Bears will finish off their season in the Windy City against the University of Chicago.