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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Badgers drop final home game to Hawkeyes, 2-0

The Iowa women’s soccer team defeated Wisconsin 2-0 Saturday on Senior Day at the McClimon Complex after Leah DeMoss and Morgan Showalter scored on an unassisted goal and a penalty kick, respectively.

Because Michigan State was victorious Saturday night over Northwestern, the Badgers have earned the four seed for the Big Ten Tournament and will play sixth-seeded Minnesota at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Evanston, Ill.

DeMoss scored first for Iowa in the 57th minute, while Showalter added to the lead by converting on a penalty kick in the 82nd minute of regulation. UW senior goalkeeper Michele Dalton said the first goal was especially frustrating because the shot initially seemed to be easy to defend.

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“Unfortunately, when she shot it, I kind of took a breath of relief because it was a fairly easy save; it actually took a bad bounce right before my hand, so that’s going to haunt me probably for a long time,” Dalton said. “But it was a great shot, though, credit to her. But, you know, our defending to get to that point needed to be better.”

Both teams were aggressive offensively, as each recorded 12 shots on goal. Wisconsin had several opportunities to score, but Iowa’s attack proved to be more effective overall.

“I didn’t think we kept enough passes in the front half of the field. I think we gave the ball away too easily,” head coach Paula Wilkins said. “I thought they had great shape in their system, and I thought that we played into it when we had opportunities [to be successful].”

Freshman forward Cara Walls similarly said she thought the Iowa offense was sharper than Wisconsin’s.

“I think they just had a stronger mentality; they were going forward, they were connecting passes, which we kind of struggled to do,” Walls said. She also noted the Badgers need to improve on “passing and defending together.”

Despite their struggles, Dalton said she believed the Badgers’ defensive unit showed glimpses of success.

“I think there were moments that we were good. You can’t always dwell on the negatives. I do think as a group that we did play well together,” Dalton said. “There were a couple of breakdowns, … but that happens in any game, and unfortunately they were able to capitalize on a couple of chances. But no, I don’t think it was any detrimental thing we can’t change.” 

Offensively, there was no shortage of opportunity for the Badgers. Midfielders Joana Bielefeld and Monica Lam-Feist recorded four and three shots on goal, respectively, and five other players took one shot on goal.

Saturday’s game was notable for Dalton because it was her last home game as a Badger.

“It was kind of surreal. I don’t think it’s actually set in yet,” Dalton said. “I feel like I’ll be back out here [at the McClimon Complex] next week. So it’s going to be difficult when the reality sets in. But for right now, it’s an experience and an opportunity that I can’t say enough about. Obviously, with everything there’s ups and downs, good days and bad days, but at the end of the day, I’m really proud to say that I played here, and I’m going to miss this place a lot.”

Wilkins lauded her seniors for setting “a standard that will continue in the future.”

Without a doubt, getting shut out in the final game of the regular season at home is disappointing, but Wilkins and the team said they believe the loss provides a good learning opportunity moving forward into conference tournament play.

“I think every opportunity, everything that happens in your life, you have the opportunity to learn from and get better from,” Wilkins said. “If we don’t learn from this, then as a program it’s something that’s a problem.”

As the team enters the most important phase of the season thus far, a balance must be maintained between examining this game, learning from it, moving away from thinking about it and focusing on the Big Ten Tournament.

“You need to think about it for a little while,” Dalton said. “And obviously, like Paula says, every opportunity that you have is another opportunity to learn something and improve. So we do need to take the lessons from this loss and move forward and refocus ourselves for the Big Ten Tournament.”

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