On senior day, the Wisconsin women’s soccer team (10-8-1, 4-6-0) completed its sweep of in-state rivals with a 3-0 win over UW-Green Bay (8-8-1, 4-2-0) in the final game of the regular season Nov. 2.
After defeating Marquette and UW-Milwaukee earlier in the season, the win over UW-Green Bay solidifies the Badgers’ position as the top team in Wisconsin.
“Outright, we are the No. 1 team in Wisconsin,” head coach Dean Duerst said. “We beat the other three key programs. That is really a nice accomplishment for this group.”
Before the game, the team recognized seniors Katie Eannelli, Bethany Heine, Lisa Himrod, Jenny Kundert and Elly Patterson, who took part in the final regular season game of their collegiate careers.
“It’s a special victory, sending these seniors out,” Duerst said. “All of them have been great contributors to our program.”
The seniors came out firing, as senior defender Bethany Heine lifted a corner kick to senior forward Jenny Kundert, who drilled a header past UW-Green Bay goalkeeper Nora Kaitfors to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead with 32:40 remaining in the first half.
“It was a brilliant service from one senior and a great header from the other,” Duerst said. “That was the moment we needed.”
With the score, Kundert regained sole possession of the team lead in goals (7), finishing as the Badgers’ regular season scoring leader for a second consecutive season.
“All of my family was here and a lot of friends, so it felt good,” Kundert said. “I’ve been in a slump for the last couple games, so it was definitely nice. I have been a little down lately, and I just needed a little spark to get going.”
The Badgers dominated play in the first half, out-shooting the Phoenix 13-2, but entered halftime leading by just one goal.
“A couple were real clear moments where we need to put those away,” Duerst said. “Our kids just maintained a focus at halftime. They finished it up with a solid second half.”
With 33:05 remaining in the second half, Kundert slid a pass through the Phoenix defense to midfielder Kara Kabellis, who knocked the ball past Kaitfors to put the Badgers ahead 2-0.
“Kara Kabellis and Molly Meuer were outstanding in the midfield,” Duerst said. “Kara (Kabellis) gets rewarded with a great goal. We needed that kind of goal to break their back, to put the game away. That was a critical goal.”
Later in the half, forward Rachel Hansen scored to give the Badgers a comfortable 3-0 lead with 4:23 remaining in the game.
“We’ve been wanting to give Rachel [Hansen] more time,” Duerst said. “She’s been nagged by a pretty bad injury and now she’s back. She’s a very dangerous player.”
While the offense exploded for 28 shots and three goals in the victory, the defense turned in an equally impressive performance, holding the Phoenix to three shots in the shutout.
“We just gave them one or two little glimpses of opportunity,” Duerst said. “All of the backs played extremely well.”
The win improves the Badgers’ series record against the Phoenix to 10-0. In the ten victories over UW-Green Bay, the Badgers have outscored the Phoenix 46-2.
The win also extends the Badgers’ winning streak to three games heading into the Big Ten tournament, where the eighth-seeded Badgers will take on top seed Penn State in the first round.
With a 9-1 conference record, the Nittany Lions finished first in the Big Ten for the sixth consecutive season. Penn State leads the Big Ten in goals (54), assists (40), points (148) and shutouts (9); however, the Nittany Lions entered last season’s Big Ten tournament with the top seed and lost to eighth-seeded Illinois in the first round.
“On any given day, there are no guarantees,” Duerst said. “We look forward to frustrating Penn State. We look forward to making it the ugliest game they’ve ever seen.”
