Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema may want to take a cue from the UW women’s soccer team when he takes the field Saturday against Northern Illinois.
For the third straight game, the Wisconsin defense threw a shutout on the pitch, blanking the NIU Huskies en route to a 1-0 victory.
It’s a defensive unit that’s filled with experience and hard-working individuals, a combination that has surrendered zero goals in three games at home this season.
“They’re all just working really hard right now,” midfielder Erin Jacobsen said. “I think each game the entire team is improving a lot. In practice, we’re working really hard, and they’ve been doing outstanding back there on defense.”
With such a strong defense, it almost doesn’t seem to matter who the Badgers start in goal on any given night. In Wisconsin’s three shutouts at home, Michele Dalton has started twice against UW-Milwaukee and NIU, while sophomore Lauren Gunderson got the call against UW-Green Bay in the Badgers’ first win of the season.
Much of the duo’s success has come from the defense’s ability to limit opponents’ scoring chances. The Badgers have allowed just 41 shots over the course of four games, with 20 of those coming in UW’s loss at then-No. 3 Notre Dame.
Simple math will tell you that adds up to just 21 shots in three home games, or just seven shots per game in Wisconsin’s three shutouts.
“I’m very impressed with the way they’ve played so far,” head coach Paula Wilkins said. “I think one of the big keys is Whitney (Owusu) and LJ (Lindsey Johnson) and (Meghan) Flan(nery) all have a good relationship with each other.”
Of course, experience does not hurt either.
Although the Badgers are fairly young up front and in the midfield for the second straight year, the team is loaded with experience on defense.
“If you look at our field, the most experienced players we have are actually in the back,” Wilkins said. “Only one freshman, a senior, a junior and a sophomore usually, whereas everywhere else it’s all freshmen and sophomores.”
Senior Owusu and juniors Taryn Francel and Birdie Leibham anchor that defense, with sophomore Flannery and freshman Johnson also starting on a regular basis. Still, several younger players have stepped in at times without missing a beat. One of those times was Thursday night, when the Badgers were without Francel and Leibham.
As a result, the Badgers started freshmen Johnson and Alev Kelter on defense, who looked like they belonged from the get go.
“We obviously had a difficulty with Taryn being out with the flu, but Alev did a good job back there,” Wilkins said. “I think that means we have some good depth, and I’m excited about that and getting some players some good experience in good spots.”
Despite the losses of Francel and Leibham, the Badgers remained strong under the guidance of Owusu. In each of Wisconsin’s three shutouts, Owusu has been leader and calming presence in the backfield for the Badgers.
“Our defense has been incredible,” Dalton said. “With Whitney as our senior coming back, she’s kind of our rock back there. With so much inexperience elsewhere on the field, she has been a big help.”
Wisconsin’s defense through four games in 2009 has been a major improvement over last season’s squad, which allowed just over 1.3 goals per game on a similar number of shots per game.
Of course, with 15 games remaining on the Badgers’ schedule, the season is far from over.
“We’re continuing to strive for that kind of success in every game,” Wilkins said. “Obviously, every team brings new challenges, but we hope to remain consistent defensively.”
