MSOC | Gaels Fall to Wisconsin in Season Opener

Thursday, August 20

Madison, WI

5:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Wisconsin

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Saint Mary's (CA)	0	0	0
Wisconsin	4	1	5

Jaydon Whittaker: 90 MP

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MSOC | Gaels Fall to Wisconsin in Season Opener

8/20/2026 8:27:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Highlights

MADISON, Wis. — The 2026 men's soccer season is under way, and Saint Mary's dropped its opener to the Wisconsin Badgers on the road, 5-0. The Gaels went a man down early, having to play a defensive match for the final 81 minutes and change. They will look to regroup against Marquette on Sunday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In the early goings, the Gaels looked to play spoiler in front of the Badger faithful on opening night, winning a pair of early corner kicks to try and put pressure on their Big-Ten foe early. Unfortunately, those would be the only two opportunities that the Gaels would have on level footing, as in the ninth minute, a foul inside the 18 yard box assessed to Hubert Deragon was reviewed and upgraded to a red card. The Badgers would put away the penalty shot, and find themselves ahead 1-0 and up a man with a majority of the match left to play.

From that point on, the Gaels mindset switched to a defensive one with the Badgers up a man. While they defended valiantly, the Wisconsin attack was able to exploit the man advantage to the tune of four more goals en route to the season-opening victory. The Gaels' best chance came in the 78th minute, when a spill by the Wisconsin goalkeeper netted them an indirect free kick inside the box. With all 11 Badger players on the goal line, Talan Rochelle smashed a ball aimed for just beneath the crossbar, but it was parried away, thwarting the goal scoring opportunity.

GAME NOTES

11 different Gaels made their debut in Saint Mary's colors, led by outside back Talan Rochelle, who played the full 90 minutes.
Joining Rochelle in playing the full 90 were center back Surafel Abebe and midfielder Jaydon Whittaker.
The Gaels stepped up defensively in the second half, surrendering just one goal on two shots in the second frame, as the backline kept traffic away from second half goalkeeper and true freshman Nathan Peeler.
Six different Gaels fired off a shot, with Rochelle generating the only shot on frame in the match for the Gaels.

UP NEXT
The Gaels will make the 80 mile trek east from Madison to Milwaukee to next take on the Marquette Golden Eagles. Kick-off for that contest is scheduled for 11 a.m. pst on Sunday, August 23.

Don't miss a minute of Saint Mary's Men's Soccer home action from Saint Mary's Stadium! Tickets are on sale here!

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