The UW women's soccer team kept its momentum going this weekend, grabbing 2-1 and 3-2 victories on the road at the Nike Tiger Invitational. The wins boosted the team's record to 4-0 heading into its home opener this coming weekend.
The Badgers opened the weekend with a 2-1 victory over host Missouri Friday night.
For the sixth time in this young season, the Badgers got the offensive ball rolling early when junior midfielder/forward Amy Vermeulen connected with freshman forward Taylor Walsh just five minutes into the game.
\Taylor's early goal gave us tremendous momentum,"" Head Coach Dean Duerst said. ""Quick scoring may not happen all the time, but we're certainly going after teams right away.""
Walsh then returned the favor, setting up Vermeulen for a goal of her own more than 20 minutes later. The header turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Missouri tallied a goal just before halftime, and the teams played a scoreless second half resulting in the 2-1 victory.
Sunday's championship game against Baylor provided even more excitement and another one-goal victory for Wisconsin.
Baylor scored twice in the first 40 minutes to take a quick two-goal lead, but the Badgers were relentless.
Senior forward Marla Froelich responded just two minutes later to cut the halftime deficit to just one goal.
Fifteen minutes later Froelich took advantage of an impressive passing sequence by freshman midfielder/defender Katy Meuer and Vermeulen. Froelich's second goal of the game sent the championship game into overtime.
With less than 30 seconds left in the first overtime sophomore forward/midfielder Allison Preiss took advantage of a Baylor mistake to take the championship.
Baylor goalkeeper Ashley Holder misplayed a free kick, kicking the ball to Preiss who sent the ball over Holder's head for the game winner.
""Baylor came out with a lot of intensity today,"" Duerst said. ""However, we were able to make the adjustments that we needed to make and win the game.""
The Badger men's soccer team was also in action over the weekend at the Big Toe Invitational, earning a split at home. The team fell 2-1 to Evansville Friday night before rebounding with a 4-1 win over Dayton Sunday afternoon.
Wisconsin got off to a quick start Friday night when senior midfielder/forward Nick Van Sicklen found senior forward Jed Hohlbein just six minutes into the game.
The aggressive offense continued for the Badgers throughout Friday night's game as Van Sicklen posted seven shots and the team outshot Evansville 21-12.
""I felt that we certainly did enough to win the game,"" said Head Coach Jeff Rohrman. ""We out-shot them, we had more shots on goal, and I thought we had more quality chances.""
Evansville found the back of the net two times in the second half as it got its first victory of the season.
The Badgers' offensive prowess paid off in the second game of the weekend as Hohlbein finished the game with a hat trick, giving him four goals on the weekend.
Hohlbein began the night with a header goal less than eight minutes into the game. His second goal came less than 10 minutes later and he capped off the hat trick early in the second half.
""Jed had a great weekend,"" Rohrman said. ""I think this is the best I've seen Jed play maybe since he's got here. The timing of his runs are perfect, he's holding the ball well for us and he's taking his chances very well.""
It was Hohlbein's second career hat trick and he was named the tournament's offensive most valuable player. Also, both he, his brother, sophomore midfielder/defenseman Aaron Hohlbein, and Van Sicklen were named to the All-tournament team.
---uwbadgers.com contributed to this report
