With the combination of senior night, homecoming and the number-two spot in the Big Ten standings on the line, the Wisconsin women’s soccer team stepped onto the field ready to make a statement Friday night.
The Badgers responded to the big opportunity against the third-best Big Ten team with a 1-0 win over Rutgers.
Seemingly unfazed by the pregame ceremonies, the Rutgers’ offense spent the opening ten minutes in control of the game, dominating possession in the attacking end. While the Scarlet Nights (11-3-1, 7-3-1 Big Ten) had several opportunities to steal an early lead, none of their looks found the net, and eventually the Badgers (14-2-1, 7-2-1) created some rhythm and got the ball on their attacking side.
The first big chance of the game came on a through ball from sophomore midfielder Rose Lavelle to redshirt senior forward Kodee Williams, who cut through the defense and had one defender to beat. With a quick fake-out cut to the left to throw the defender off track, Williams launched a one-on-one from point-blank range, but missed wide left, resulting in a goal kick.
With the game scoreless 25 minutes into the half, UW’s Becca Harrison stole the ball in the opponent’s box, bringing it up the side and putting a perfectly placed cross to Williams on the opposite side. Beating the defenders to the ball, Williams managed a header that was able to find a small opening across the line for the 1-0 lead.
The goal gave the Badgers a sense of confidence and excitement that would set the done for the rest of the match. Coming into the game, head coach Wilkins admitted that Friday’s showdown came with sense of added excitement compared to others throughout the year.
“I think there’s a little bit of added inspiration,” Wilkins said. “Their energy for the last week in practice has been very good, I haven’t had to encourage them to play any harder in training. I think they knew what was at stake and it’s a sign of a mature team.”
The remaining 15 minutes of the first half showcased breakaways that looked promising from both teams, but both backlines were quick to close down any chances in the defensively dominated half.
Led by the efforts of junior Briana Stelzer and redshirt senior Alexandra Heller, the Badgers held the Scarlet Knights offense in check throughout the first 45 minutes and redshirt senior goalkeeper Genevieve Richard enjoyed a relatively untested opening segment.
Similar to the start of the first half, the Scarlet Knights came out swinging, passing the ball effectively in the first five minutes. However, they still couldn’t find a hole through Wisconsin’s backline for a threatening look. Two shots from long range got to Richard, but they were lobs that she easily handled.
The first serious threat of the game for Rutgers came 52 minutes in when a Rutgers striker found some open space on the right side of Wisconsin’s goal box. But on a shot that looked certain to find the net, Richard made a diving save and her backline cleared the ball out, and the Badgers’ shutout was still intact.
The Badgers offense came right back with a strong challenge of their own, with a long range shot from Williams just missing high over the crossbar to keep the score at 1-0 Wisconsin with 35 minutes left.
Close-range opportunities began to come more easily for both sides in the final 30 minutes, with junior midfielder Kinley McNicoll firing a promising shot in the 63rd minute that just missed wide left.
The Terrapins wasted a promising chance with 10 minutes left in the game, as a corner from the right side sliced through the entire Badger’s defense, but failed to find a Rutgers player as Richard promptly punched the ball out of the box.
While the Wisconsin offense didn’t challenge the Rutgers goalkeeper Casey Murphy throughout the second half, Williams said part of that was due to the defensive approach implemented by the team to prevent a Rutgers equalizer.
“I think in the second half, we were pretty tired and we needed to change our game plan up a little bit. We switched formations just to make it a little easier on ourselves,” Williams said. “We did the same thing in Minnesota and it worked for us, we scored three goals in the second half, but Rutgers is a tough team and we knew that coming in, so by the end of the second half we were just trying to play solid defense.”
After completing a perfectly executed pass through the Badgers’ defense with seven minutes left in the game, it looked for a split-second that Rutgers was going to tie the game up with a breakaway shot. Fortunately for Wisconsin’s defense, Richard was quick to notice the pass, and with a diving effort, beat the Rutgers striker by less than a step to eliminate any chance of an equalizer.
By keeping all 11 players on the defensive end for the final five minutes of the game, the Badgers successfully kept Rutgers from scoring, despite a few close calls that were saved by Richard. The shutout from Richard marks her 10th of the season, as she notched six saves.
With a 1-0 defensive victory and their eighth conference win of the season, the Badgers finished their Senior Night with their 14th win of the season, marking the most victories since their 2004 campaign.
The Badgers will be on the pitch again this Sunday in a home matchup against Maryland (5-4-6, 3-2-5 Big Ten), starting at 1 p.m. at the McClimon Complex. Maryland has had an interesting stretch over their last four games, playing to a double-overtime tie in each competition.
