Coming off a tough loss to No. 8 Penn State Friday, the Wisconsin women’s soccer team (3-1-1 Big Ten, 8-2-2 overall) was able to turn the tides against Ohio State University (1-2-1, 7-3-2) in a 1-0 overtime thriller Sunday afternoon at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
Penn State was the first Big Ten loss of the season for the Badgers, but head coach Paula Wilkins knew they had to put the loss behind them and focus on the task at hand.
“One of the biggest things about the Big Ten is that you can have two games on a Friday and Sunday and they can be quite emotional and physical,” Wilkins said. “We had to make sure that we put that game in the past and that we focus on Ohio State because that was going to be the next important game.”
The game proved to be a tale of two halves.
The first half was strongly controlled by the Ohio State’s offense, notching five shots and five corner kicks throughout, but OSU was unable to find the back of the net thanks to the strong play of redshirt junior goalkeeper Genevieve Richard.
Richard ended the game with a stunning six saves, one shy of her career-high. Coach Wilkins praised the keeper’s play, saying she had arguably the biggest impact out of any one player.
“I think Genevieve by far was very good at what she did,” Wilkins said. “She came up with some very key saves to keep us in the game.”
The Badgers came out strong after the break, pushing the pace and playing with noticeably more energy, though the game remained scoreless at the end of regulation.
Wisconsin was able to carry the momentum from the second half into overtime
They dominated the extra period, constantly applying pressure on the Buckeye goal with the same intensity they had been channelling througout the contest.
Though the game was scoreless going into overtime Wilkins knew the Badgers had to keep doing the same things they were already doing all game.
“Overtime is generally won by players who want it a little bit more, but we needed to keep playing, we didn’t want to just whack things in the box and make sure we kept playing and defending well together,” Wilkins said.
Junior forward Nikki Greenhalgh was able to finally put the ball in the back of the net for Wisconsin, scoring in the 97th minute off an assist from senior midfielder Alev Kelter.
“It was pretty magical, I think. I’m kind of on cloud nine right now because of that goal,” Greenhalgh said. “We were fighting hard all game and it’s good to come out with a win.”
Coach Wilkins views each game as a building block for her team.
“Every game we’ve learned from,” Wilkins said. “They add character, they add different circumstances that we have to deal with and from different players. I’m encouraged and I think we have a much-needed physical break, we haven’t had a break yet in the season.”
