As the Wisconsin women’s soccer team returned home Saturday to play Nebraska following a disappointing road loss last Sunday against Michigan, head coach Paula Wilkins was looking for her team to play with a willingness to do anything for a win.

“We talked about being desperate and that teams are desperate in certain moments are the ones that are going to win,” Wilkins said. “We talked about being all 90 minutes and being desperate, but disciplined.”

Against Nebraska Saturday night, the Badgers provided the desperate performance that Wilkins was looking for. Determined to get back on track in Big Ten play, the Badgers took aggressive control of the game from start to finish as they easily defeated Nebraska 3-0.

The Badgers wasted no time imposing their will on the Cornhuskers when Kodee Williams opened up the scoring with a breakaway goal one minute into the game. Williams’s goal instantly put Wisconsin in control and established a strong sense of urgency that the Badgers would play with from start to finish.

“It really gave us great momentum going into the rest of the game. I thought we really had them on their heels for the better part of the first half,” Williams said.

The Badgers expect to contend in the Big Ten, having been picked to finish second in the Big Ten standings before the season began.

After starting out conference play 1-1, Wilkins knew this game would be a crucial step for her team toward rising to the top of the conference and would require enhanced intensity.

“I think the one thing we really wanted was to get a Big Ten win and that was going to be important,” Wilkins said.

Besides putting three balls into the net, Wisconsin was also able to “play desperately” by sending a message to the Cornhuskers with its aggressive and physical style that led the Badgers to winning 50-50 challenges and balls in the air. It was chippy and physical at many points of the game, and while Wisconsin committed 13 fouls and Nebraska only committed four, the Badgers were successfully able to send a message of their relentlessness and grit without losing control of the game and allowing Nebraska to score off the fouls they were awarded.

Williams was happy about the toughness her team displayed, but was also proud of herself and her teammates for displaying discipline throughout, just as Wilkins had stressed earlier.

“We know the Big Ten is physical. We know that Nebraska is a desperate team. They blocked some shots, they block crosses, they really get in there and today I think we really brought it above them,” Williams said. “It was a bit snippy, but I thought we kept our cool.”

Saturday’s match against Nebraska was the first home game for Wisconsin since playing their previous four games on the road. According to Williams, returning to play in front of their home fans pumped even more energy and intensity into an already determined Badger team.

“We had a great crowd tonight,” Williams said. “It was a bad taste in our mouth coming off that Sunday loss and we were really excited to get back out here.”