It was a quick victory Sunday afternoon for Wisconsin (4-2-3 Big Ten, 7-4-6 overall) against the Spartans of Michigan State (2-7-0, 5-10-1). Of course, the game itself wasn’t especially quick—it lasted the usual 90 minutes—but quick in the sense that senior midfielder Michaela Powers scored the first and only goal of the match in the first minute of play.
The goal was assisted by sophomore forward Emily Borgmann just 22 seconds into the match.
As a whole, the Badgers outshot Michigan State 10-9. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Caitlyn Clem finished with four saves for Wisconsin, marking her seventh shutout of the year. Spartans’ keeper Savanna Wojtanowski also finished the match with four saves.
“It was an exciting road win,” head coach Paula Wilkins said, according to UWBadgers.com. “I was proud of the team because we had some challenges we had to face on the road and they were very resilient.”
Michigan State was just as aggressive in the match as Wisconsin was, putting four of its nine shots on goal and attacking all night.
The Spartans also had opportunities to score with their eight corner kicks, five more than the Badgers’ three, but were unsuccessful on each one.
Powers led Wisconsin with four shots, tying her season high, while freshman Allie Winterfield added two shots of her own.
With the Sunday victory, Wisconsin is now sixth place in the Big Ten with 15 points, one point behind Rutgers and two behind Michigan.
It is riding a five-game unbeaten streak, collecting three victories and two ties over the past few weeks.
The Badgers are back on the road again to take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois (3-5-1, 6-10-1), Saturday, Oct. 22 in Champaign, Ill.
