Despite the poor playing conditions and an hour weather delay, the Wisconsin women’s soccer team (5-5-2, 1-1-1 Big Ten) and the Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-2-2, 2-0-1 Big Ten) did not fail to put on a show. With the Border Battle ending in a tie after regulation, the game was decided on a penalty kick in the 98th minute, giving Minnesota the overtime win, 2-1.
Following an hour delay due to heavy rain and lightning, Minnesota got off to a quick start, narrowly missing a goal off the cross bar within the first few minutes. Wisconsin fought back with an aggressive offense, however, scoring the game’s first goal in the 24th minute.
After two consecutive corner kicks, midfielder Meghan Flannery bent in her third of three consecutive corner kicks past Minnesota goalkeeper Cat Parkhill to give Wisconsin a 1-0 lead.
Yet, while the Badgers were able to create chances offensively in the first half, the Gophers were able to control the tempo in the second half. In the 50th minute Minnesota’s Angie Olson tied the game up at one goal apiece. Wisconsin head coach Paula Wilkins could not help but give them credit.
Wilkins was happy with her team’s play in the first half, but disappointed with the Badgers’ performance in the second.
“The first half I thought we did better,” Wilkins said. “Once we scored I don’t think we continued to play and do what we needed to do.
“They stepped their game up and we didn’t respond,” Wilkins continued. “We didn’t get all the balls we needed to and for them, they did what they had to do.”
After starting off strong, the Badgers were unable to keep up with the Gophers, who cleary outplayed Wisconsin in the second half. At halftime, Wisconsin led 1-0 with seven corner kicks to Minnesota’s two. After regulation, however, Minnesota narrowed the gap to six corner kicks to Wisconsin’s eight and four saves on goal each.
In overtime, the Gophers did not waste much time before getting another scoring opportunity. In the eighth minute of the extra period, Minnesota drew a penalty kick right in front of the goal, and forward Katie Bethke knocked it in for the win.
According to Wilkins, Wisconsin’s passive play contributed to the Gophers’ offensive production. She also noted that instead of being consistently aggressive the Badgers seemed to become more timid as the game went on.
“We started reacting rather than being proactive,” Wilkins said. “We let them get to a bunch of balls before us. We just didn’t do anything physically — we just sat back. We needed to get after people and do a better job.”
Coming into the game, Wisconsin and Minnesota were tied for first place in the Big Ten, along with Purdue. This only added to the rivalry in the Border Battle. During the week the Badgers knew what they were going into and prepared for the tense game.
“We were hyping up the players all week,” Wilkins said. “I thought the Border Battle was going to be important. Obviously it was a well-played game to go into overtime.”
Aside from losing the match to their border rivals, the overtime loss made things even worse for the Badgers. After a disappointing loss though, Wilkins mentioned that the team must prepare for Sunday at Iowa. Wilkins said the team’s inconsistency will be a notable theme throughout the next few practices before the Badgers face the Hawkeyes.
“We need a full 90 minutes together of consistency of passing and moving the ball,” Wilkins said. “I don’t think we’ve done that yet.”