In the final tune-up before the start of Big Ten conference play, the Wisconsin women's soccer team hosted the Wisconsin Soccer Classic this past weekend besting Kentucky Sunday 1-0 after losing to Missouri 2-1 on Friday night.

Sunday's game saw the return of two key players to the Badger lineup. Senior midfielder Kara Kabellis returned after having to sit out Friday night's game due to receiving a red card in a previous match against Pepperdine, and junior goalkeeper Lynn Murray was back in action after suffering an injury in the season opener against Creighton.

Both players made their presence felt as Kabellis tallied the lone goal in the Badgers win over the Wildcats Sunday, while Murray notched her first shutout of the season and the 11th of her career.

"It's tough to have to watch your team and know you can't go out there and help them out," Kabellis said of having to sit out Friday night's game.

She did her part Sunday though as she headed in a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Elise Weber in the 54th minute for her first goal of the season.

"Elise was serving some great far-post balls and I knew if I could lose my man I'd be able to get on it," Kabellis said. "And I hit one to the far-post and timed it right."

The goal was especially significant considering how strong Kentucky's goalkeeper Anne Ogundele had been coming into the match. Ogundele had recorded a shutout in four straight matches heading into Sunday's, going more than 433 minutes without yielding a goal.

The Badgers controlled the ball for most of the game as they out-shot the Wildcats 19-5 and held an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks. This type of offense was something that Wisconsin head coach Dean Duerst did not see out of his players on Friday night and he challenged his team to be better on Sunday.

"We played smart but we did attack with a mentality today that was giving us the energy," Duerst said after his team posted its second shutout of the year.

While the Badgers did dominate statistically, the game was still in doubt as the clock was winding down and the Wildcats had a chance to tie the game up late.

With just more than a minute and a half remaining, Kentucky's Nicola Holdsworth drilled a shot off the right post, narrowly missing on the equalizer.

On Friday night, the Badgers (3-2-2) played tough but lapses on the defensive and offensive ends led to their demise in a 2-1 loss to No. 18 Missouri.

As the first half came to a close, it appeared as though the two teams would enter the intermission deadlocked at zero, but with just 19 seconds remaining, a foul called just outside of the penalty box gave Missouri a free kick and a chance to get on the scoreboard.

Senior midfielder Elyse Nikonchuk took the shot for the Tigers and put it up and over Badgers' senior goalkeeper Stephani Szczechowski.

For the third time in six games this season, the Badgers found themselves trailing as they headed into the intermission.

Less than three minutes into the second half, the Tigers struck again as freshman midfielder Kristin Andrighetto took a pass from Meghan Pfeiffer up the left side and beat Szczechowski to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

A two-goal deficit is difficult to overcome, but this season the Badgers have had a penchant for battling back after falling behind, and Friday night was no different. As they put more pressure on the Tigers' defense in the second half, they finally broke through in the 62nd minute when junior midfielder Marissa Sarkesian took a lob pass from junior defender Ann Eshun and headed it into the back of the net for her second goal of the season to cut Missouri's lead to 2-1.

"Ann just hit a great ball, back-post, and it was perfectly placed on my head," Sarkesian said. "I just went up for it. It wasn't really marked; just placed it in the back of the net."

The goal was notable for the Badgers because the Tigers had already faced four Big Ten schools entering Friday night's game and Sarkesian's was the first for a Big Ten team.

The offensive pressure in the second half was something that Duerst wished they would've had throughout the game.

"Players needed to step up," Duerst said. "They know they needed to step up. I think partly it's Allison [Preiss], Taylor [Walsh], Elise [Weber], Krista [Liskevych], Marissa; they were connecting a little more. And that was the one ingredient I wish we would've had a little bit more in the first half."

Throughout the remainder of the game, the Badgers failed to get much going on offense but did step up on defense to keep the game close. In the 72nd minute, junior defender Katy Meuer stopped a Missouri shot in front of wide-open net, and just more than a minute later Szczechowski made a diving save to deflect the ball wide and keep it a one-goal game.

After the game, Sarkesian said that she felt that the game showed that Badgers are capable of playing with a Top-25 team like the Tigers.

"We can definitely hang with these teams," she said. "They're a great team; very aggressive. But we hung with them all game. We had lapses the last five minutes of the first half and such that resulted in their goals, but we can definitely hang with these teams. We just have to get a little more offense."