A late second-half goal from midfielder Rose Lavelle wasn’t enough for the No. 25 Wisconsin women’s soccer team (11-5-3, 8-2-1 Big Ten) against Northwestern (13-4-2, 7-3-1 Big Ten) Wednesday night, as the Wildcats roared back with a late equalizer in regulation and a game winner with just three minutes left in the second overtime period.

The loss denies the Badgers the outright conference title and they will now share the crown with Penn State.

First half

In a Clem family showdown, Wisconsin kept the offensive momentum going from the previous weekend with a dominating stretch of possession to start the match, but were unable to find the net in the first 15 minutes. It took Northwestern 13 minutes to generate any threatening attack, but the Wildcat’s first shot from midfielder Nandi Mehta was saved by Caitlyn Clem to keep the game at a scoreless tie.

Wisconsin defender Kylie Schwartz gave Northwestern’s defense a scare with an unexpected shot from more than 25 yards out in the 20th minute. The high-flying ball was able to clear the diving hands of Lauren Clem, but hit the crossbar to the dismay of the home crowd.

Northwestern, starting to find more rhythm on the attack, responded just a few minutes later with an effort from midfielder Kassidy Gorman. Coming with a head of steam from the right side of the box, the shot required Caitlyn Clem to lay out in a diving effort to keep the score tied.

The next big scoring opportunity for either side came in the 38th minute from Wisconsin.

Forward Sydney McGinnis had the ball near the top box, but had to pass it away quickly with a swarm of Northwestern defenders closing in. At the last second, she found Lavelle making a run to her left. In a perfectly timed pass, Lavelle took the ball and drilled it to the corner of the net, but Lauren Clem made a miraculous save to push the ball far right of the goal.

Northwestern immediately responded with a breakaway past the Wisconsin’s defense, as forward Michelle Manning crossed the ball to a wide-open Brenna Lovera in the box. With no one but the keeper in front of her, Lovera narrowly mistimed her shot and failed to test Caitlyn Clem. As a result, the game remained tied going into halftime, despite incredibly close chances by both sides.

While Wisconsin outshot Northwestern 11-5 in total shots in 45 minutes, the Badgers were inefficient with their opportunities, converting just two into on-goal attempts. Northwestern, on the other hand, was efficient, recording four on-goal attempts.

Second half

While the Badgers came out flat in the second half and spent the majority of the opening minutes fending off Northwestern, Wisconsin’s Caitlyn Clem was dialed-in, recording a series of perfectly read saves to keep the Wildcats at bay. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Badgers recorded just three total shots, a far slower pace than in the first 45.

With a chance for a game-winner in regulation fading for either side, Lavelle took matters into her own hands in the 74th minute.

Making a long attacking run on the right side, Lavelle cruised into the box, relatively unchallenged, and fired a shot for the left corner. The heat on the ball was just enough to beat the stretching arms of Lauren Clem, and the Badgers took a 1-0 lead. The goal marks Lavelle’s team-leading seventh of the season.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as a shot taken by Lavelle in the 80th minute was blocked, and the ball rolled back all the way into the Badgers defending third. The entire defensive unit for Wisconsin was caught off guard and out of position, including Caitlyn Clem. With no one able to make it back to defend in time for Wisconsin, the Wildcat’s leading scorer Addie Steiner ran the wide open opportunity 30-plus yards and carefully knocked it in for what was likely the easiest goal of her career.

With neither team able to find an answer, the game entered in overtime tied at 1-1.

Overtime

After a scoreless opening overtime period, the game looked like it was on its way to a double-overtime draw as the clock ticked down to four minutes remaining.

But instead, the Wildcats would play spoiler on a goal from Gorman. Senior Jennifer Korn, who delivered a perfectly placed ball right in front of the goal, set up the score. With no Badger in place to clear the cross, Gorman was allowed an easy shot from close range to abruptly end the contest.

The loss knocks the Badgers down to the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, and they are now scheduled to play Ohio State at the McClimon Center for their first conference tournament game Sunday.

Quotable

Wisconsin head coach Paula Wilkins on the team’s shooting inefficiency:

“We wanted to get around the corner a little more and get some more stuff driven into the box. I don’t think we did that so well. We got around the corner a couple of times, but we hit some balls high with this wind. We needed to make sure we got them through on the ground and need to go back and talk about that again.”

Wilkins on what she told the team after the game:

“You can decide how you use this game. You can use it to motivate you and prepare for this next one, because the next games we play are go hard or go home.”