The Pioneer men’s soccer team suffered a double overtime 2-1 loss Oct. 9 to Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Falling just short seems to be a trend for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville team this year.

After a great pass by junior Hunter McMahon, senior defender Michael Prudisch gave the Pioneers a 1-0 lead just six minutes into the game.

UW-Platteville allowed the equalizing goal early in the second half and were unable to finish off MSOE, letting up a header goal shortly into the second period.

“We start off well and get early leads, but being a younger team and making a few mistakes, we just can’t finish,” head coach Enzo Fuschino said.

Brad Streich, a junior defender for the Pioneers, was pleased with the defensive play.

“We did our job when it came to shutting down who we were supposed to,” Streich said.

Fuschino echoed this sentiment regarding the defenses efforts.

“They had one excellent player and we shut him down the entire game,” Fuschino said. “We just got unlucky how it ended.”

“The other team took the few chances we gave them and capitalized, that’s just part of the game,” Fuschino said.

The Pioneers are heading into what could be the toughest part of the season.

“The guys are motivated and we’re gonna go out there and try an get some upsets.” Enzo said about the rest of the season. “We play three top-20 teams.”

The Pioneers righted the ship Oct. 13, shutting down the Grinnell offense in a 1-0 victory on the road.

Senior goalkeeper Ian Christensen posted his seventh shutout of the season as the Pioneers improved to 6-5-3, 1-2 WIAC on the season.

UW-Platteville scored near the end of the first half and held on to the lead with aggressive offense, posting 13 shots to Grinnell’s two.

The Pioneers take to the pitch next on Oct. 23 for an out-of-conference showdown with Wartburg.

With just three matches left in the season, the Pioneers have little time to make a push for a repeat as WIAC champions.