As if squaring off against a bitter rival were not enough, the Wisconsin women's soccer team was forced to deal with a severe weather delay and torrential downpours during Friday's match against UW-Milwaukee.
In the end, the Panthers and the inclement weather proved to be too much for the Badgers as they fell to UW-Milwaukee 1-0 on a goal scored just minutes into the second half. With the loss, Wisconsin dropped to 3-3-1 and the Panthers improved to 4-3-0.
After only five minutes of play, severe weather conditions forced officials to delay the game. The delay lasted 84 minutes, and play was finally resumed at 8:25 p.m.
In the first five minutes before the rain delay, the Badgers came out strong and ready to play. When the two teams took the field for the second time, however, Wisconsin appeared to have lost much of its intensity.
"The first five minutes of the game we came out hard, and we were really excited to win," junior forward Taylor Walsh said. "Then we had to sit [for 85 minutes] and it is always hard, but they had to do the same thing."
"We were not able to change gears like [UW-Milwaukee], and we weren't able to do the things we needed to do," head coach Paula Wilkins said. "It obviously affected us and we were not mature enough to deal with it."
In addition to the delay, the teams were forced to deal with slick field conditions and periods of strong torrential rain near the end of the first half of play.
"It was bad, the first half was bad," Walsh said. "You could not see. There is wind and rain and it is freezing. We should have been able to push through it."
The teams battled to a 0-0 draw in the first half despite a major threat by UW-Milwaukee in the 16th minute and a pair of corner kicks for Wisconsin. Ultimately, the half ended with a combined total of only four shots on goal.
In the second half, the Panthers came out strong and scored quickly. In the second minute, UW-Milwaukee sophomore forward Erin Kreuser scored the eventual game-winning goal. However, despite allowing the goal, goalkeeper Jamie Klages played well, recording seven saves.
"Jamie did great; she really saved us for much of the game," Walsh said. "[She] made some big-time saves despite the weather conditions."
Due to the slick conditions, Klages was forced to alter her play and strategy as she defended the goal for the Badgers.
"Instead of catching balls [I had to] punch them wide or push them," Klages said. "You cannot really hold [the ball] with torrential downpours."
While the loss certainly is a letdown for the Badgers after an impressive victory over Northern Arizona last weekend, the team's true concern is the lack of intensity and desire in the game.
"I'm extremely disappointed with our mentality when we came out [after the delay]," Wilkins said. "We were not doing all the little things that we talk about that are quite important."
"It is hard to come out and play hard for five minutes and get called off," Klages said. "[However], UW-Milwaukee was doing the same thing, so we should have been able to come out just as strong."
Another concern as a result of the conditions is always the possibility of injury, and the Badgers experienced that firsthand when Walsh went down in the second half with a mild ankle injury. Despite the injury, Walsh remained in the game.
"It did not really affect me; it just made me mad that it had to happen," Walsh said. "I just played through it and it was fine."
After a game like the one the Badgers played Friday night, the team will certainly find a number of areas to improve on as they prepare for their next game and the upcoming Big Ten season.
"We are not moving our feet and defending quite well," Wilkins said. "We are being quite lazy and cheating by grabbing jerseys. I think that is unacceptable and we need to raise the level now."
"We need to work on a lot of things," Walsh said. "We need to work individually on just committing to playing and having that mentality that we are not going to give up."