The No. 23 Wisconsin women’s soccer team escaped with a 1-0 double overtime victory over the University of Evansville Monday afternoon at the McClimon Soccer Complex. The Badgers improve to 3-1-1, handing the Purple Aces (4-1) their first loss of the season.
Evansville, riding their best start in school history, looked very confident throughout the game and outplayed Wisconsin in certain aspects of the game. The Purple Aces allowed few chances and shut down Wisconsin’s main threats. UE also outshot UW 14-4 in the second half.
After three close periods, the game moved into the fourth and final session. The second overtime was as tight as the entire game, but the Badgers got a corner kick with the clock winding down. The ball landed among the mob of players in front of the net and was lobbed from Kristen Betz to Kelly Kundert, who got the ball to freshman Sarah Capel.
Capel, appearing in her second game as a Badger, won the game at 116:23 on the fourth shot of her collegiate career.
“It shows that players need to be ready at any moment,” Duerst said.
Wisconsin got another excellent performance in the net from junior Kelly Conway, who made nine saves to register her second shutout of the season. Conway, who made a couple of game-saving dives against Evansville, currently owns a 1.07 GAA.
Queen For A Week: Kundert raised more than a few eyebrows with her performances against then third-ranked Notre Dame and Oakland University Sept. 7 and 9. With a two-goal game against ND and an assist versus Oakland, the Big Ten tabbed her as their Offensive Player of the Week.
“She made it happen,” Duerst said. “It just shows on any given day our players are capable of doing things of that nature. It’s the ability to be in the right positions at the right times and complete the play.”
It marks the first time Kundert has been honored with the Big Ten Player of the Week. It was last awarded to a UW player on Oct. 23, 2000, when Allison Wagner earned conference co-honors.
“Coming in, a lot of people didn’t know who Kelly Kundert was,” Duerst said. “Now (opponents) have to be aware of her.”
Break On Through: UW has been pegged as one of the top 25 teams in the nation as of last week. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America has UW positioned at No. 23, the second highest of all Big Ten schools, trailing only eighth-ranked Penn State. Despite this, Duerst says that his team isn’t satisfied.
“We still have to prove some things,” Duerst said. “I think it just shows where we are as a program right now. I think it’s important that we keep our mental focus; you don’t want to be overconfident. You’ve got to (focus) each weekend. You can’t just have a couple good games, and I think that’s what they’re committed to. Each game we’ve been right there.”
The Tragedy: UW had a scheduled day off on the day terrorists attacked the East Coast but decided to join together during the events.
“It’s a tragedy,” Duerst said. “It was real important to be together (last Tuesday) to kind of touch base about what is important in life. This is history. We’re going to remember for years and years where we were on this day, and we’ll remember we were part of this team. It had just such a way of touching people’s lives.”
