Badgers muscle their way past Phoenix, 1-0
Walls notches second goal of season as Badgers outshoot Green Bay, 20-4
MADISON,
Wis. -- Freshman Cara Walls scored for the second game in a row, and
the Wisconsin women’s soccer team exerted its will over Green Bay with
a 1-0 victory in front of 765 fans at McClimon Soccer Complex on Sunday
afternoon.
The Badgers (2-1-0) extended a pair of streaks with
the victory. They have now won all 15 matchups against the Phoenix
(1-2-1) in the series history, and in doing so pushed their home
unbeaten streak to nine games. Wisconsin is 6-0-3 in those games and is
outscoring its opponents 12-1 during the stretch.
“The stuff I
saw in the first half today and the stuff I saw against Washington, I’m
happy with,” head coach Paula Wilkins said. “I think we can build on
it, and as we get healthier, it’s going to get better and better.
I
was a little disappointed today with our second half. Part of that
comes with fitness and experience. A couple of our younger players
started to get tired.”
Wisconsin outshot Green Bay, 20-4,
including a 13-2 advantage in the first half. The Phoenix had two shots
within the first 11 minutes but the Badgers tightened their defense and
didn’t allow another strike until nearly 11 minutes into the second
half. It would be another 27 minutes before Green Bay would attempt its
fourth and final shot of the match.
“I thought the defense not
only did a great job shutting down one of their top players [Helka
Palmadottir], but they also did a good job initiating the attack,”
Wilkins said. “Catie Sessions and Lauren Reid played in some very good
balls to do that. I also thought Lindsey Johnson and Meghan Flannery
had their best games so far.”
In the 28th minute, Walls gave the Badgers all the offense they would need.
Laurie
Nosbusch headed a shot on goal that was saved by Green Bay goalkeeper
Maddie Drusch but Drusch was unable to control the rebound. Walls
headed a shot of her own but that chance found the crossbar. The
rebound kicked right back to Walls, who blasted the ball in for her
team-leading second goal of the year.
Michele Dalton needed to
make just one save in net for UW as she recorded her first clean sheet
of the season and the 19th of her career.
The Badgers hit the
road for their next four games, including a stop next weekend in the
state of Ohio. Wisconsin faces Dayton on Friday, Sept. 2, before taking
on Cincinnati on Sunday, Sept. 4.
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