A strong, unified Wisconsin women’s soccer team left the field Friday night with a sense of accomplishment after a solid performance of beating Michigan State 1-0.

But a different, more sluggish Badger team showed up Sunday afternoon. A lack of offensive opportunities matched with a misfiring defensive line led the Badgers (7-3-0, 1-2-0 Big Ten) to a troubling 3-0 loss against the Michigan Wolverines (9-2-0, 3-0-0).

This discrepancy in UW’s play is a problem head coach Paula Wilkins has stressed the past two weeks, but the tale of inconsistent performances continued this weekend, and Wilkins remains focused on correcting this issue.

“We need to go back to the details. We gave away some balls that we shouldn’t have, and we weren’t doing the details that we have done all season and that shows,” Wilkins said after Sunday’s game. “We can only get better.”

Defensively, the Badgers struggled to keep up with the speedy and physical Wolverine offense. Deadliest to UW was Michigan forward Nkem Ezurike. The sophomore managed to get four shots on goal throughout the game, two of which turned into scores. Her aggressive style of play proved almost impossible to combat and led to Wisconsin chasing her towards its own goal multiple times.

“She is a big player; she can hold herself and can spin people easily,” senior captain and defender Lindsay Johnson said. “She is just good player and is someone who takes her opportunities and chances. We definitely gave her more than we should have this game.”

The inconstancies against Michigan were not just the result of a well-organized Wolverine offense. Wisconsin struggled to connect passes and maintain possession in the middle of the field, which led to turnovers and scoring opportunities for Michigan.

A breakaway situation unfolded for the Wolverines fifteen minutes into the second half, situation sparked by a miscommunication from the Badgers in its defensive third, giving Ezurike the ball and an open shot. In a lucky break for UW, the ball went right into the hands of goalkeeper Lauren Gunderson.

Adding to the defensive line’s struggles was the loss of defender Alexandra Heller in the first half. Heller left the game with a knee injury after a physical one-on-one play sent her to the ground.

“Ali is a big player, she tackles hard and does a lot of good things for us,” Johnson said. “I think we got a little more unorganized than usual, we tried to make it better, but I don’t think it happened.”

Midway through the second half, Wilkins switched her team to a formation with three forwards in an attempt to generate offensive opportunities and keep the ball out of its defensive end. Until that point, the Badgers were stuck playing defense for most of the game, unable to put a single shot on goal. Though they didn’t convert any chances into scores, UW challenged Michigan goalkeper Haley Kopmeyer with several quality shots.

“It did help, not the score of the game, but [Michigan] did some changing of their personnel, and I don’t think they were as focused,” Wilkins said. “I think [adding a forward] helped a little bit … our urgency got a little better, closer [to] where it needed to be.”

However, Friday night Wisconsin showed much more resiliency and pulled off a shutout over Michigan State. Though pleased with her team’s performance and the outcome of the game, Wilkins still said there was room for improvement, especially on the defensive side.

“I think we just need to be consistent with some of our passes; I think we gave them their greatest opportunities,” she said Friday. “My heart stopped there at the very end.”

A scramble in UW’s defensive box with under 10 seconds to play in the game nearly sent the teams to overtime. Freshman defender Lexi Peterson saved her team, kicking a ball headed for the back of the net off the goal line to end the game.

“Lexi saved it off the line and that is amazing for her to have that confidence as a freshman,” Gunderson said. “I think the whole time we had this mentality that we were going to win and finish the game, but it is always close and they got an opportunity.”

UW’s defense is young with two freshmen starters, Peterson and Brianna Stelzer, and getting into a rhythm as a unit has been an ongoing improvement for Wisconsin. However, the effort took a dive Sunday when compared to Friday’s shutout effort against the Spartans. Although not perfect, Wisconsin has shown the capability and talent to keep good teams off the scoreboard.

With a road trip to Minnesota up next for the Badgers, the team remains eager to put this Sunday’s loss in the past and get back to the quality of play they know they are capable of.

“This is one game of the season,” Johnson said. “We have to move on to get going on the rest of our season and not focus on this game.”

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