Women’s soccer: Badgers to host Northwestern in final regular season contest

Wisconsin aims to extend their winning streak to nine games

by Jamie DeGraff

October 27, 2015

With the regular season Big Ten Championship already clinched, the Wisconsin women’s soccer team (11-4-3, 8-1-1 Big Ten) will take on Northwestern (12-4-2, 6-3-1 Big Ten) in their final home game before the conference tournament. With a win, UW will clinch the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.

Last time out

The two teams last squared off in October 2014 in what was a decisive 2-0 victory for the then-No. 12 ranked Badgers. The game came down to converting opportunities as Northwestern outshot Wisconsin 20-8, but still came up short as the Badgers’ Genevieve Richard racked up 10 saves.

Wisconsin’s keys to victory

Not getting complacent: The Badgers are certainly riding high, as their eight-game winning streak is the longest in program history over the past 28 years. Not to mention their regular season conference title victory was their first since 1994. While a younger team might raise concerns over getting too comfortable as a unit, look for the senior leadership of this team — mainly midfielders Kinley McNicoll and McKenna Meuer — to be extra vocal in making sure the Badgers stay focused on both sides of the ball.

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Converting their opportunities: The last timeout at the McClimon Complex, the Badgers managed a 1-0 victory over Michigan State despite outshooting their competition 19-5 during the 90 minutes. If not for a late-game goal from leading scorer Rose Lavelle, the Spartans would have had a chance to steal a win in overtime despite being outplayed for the majority of the contest. With the Wildcats managing six goals over their past two contests, another poor shooting performance could prove to be the difference in this game for the Badgers.

Opposing player to watch: Junior forward Addie Steiner

A scorer in each of her past two games, the junior forward has solidified herself as one of the top scorers in the Big Ten with 18 points. Leading the team in not only goals (6), but also assists (6), Steiner’s versatility on the attack will likely require another sharp performance from Wisconsin’s experienced backline.