The Wisconsin Badgers women's soccer team is set to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten women's soccer tournament on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 3:30 p.m.
Wisconsin enters the tournament as the No. 9 seed, six places lower than their entrance into last year's tournament where they made it to the championship game before falling short to Iowa 0-1.
The winner of the matchup between Wisconsin and Ohio State will go on to face the University of Southern California in the semifinal. Both the Badgers and the Buckeyes lost to USC in their regular season matches against the newest Big Ten opponent.
The Badgers have faced the Buckeyes 31 times in program history, falling to an overall record of 11-12-8.
The two teams last met on Oct. 15, 2023, which marked the Badgers’ last home game of the 2023 regular season. The Badgers fell 0-1, with the single score coming from then-junior forward Kailyn Dudukovich, assisted by then-freshman forward Amanda Schlueter.
Now a senior, Dudukovich still plays for the Buckeyes and is ranked second in the Big Ten for goals made during a season with 16. Schleuter, now a sophomore, is ranked fourth in the Big Ten for goals this season with eight.
On the Wisconsin side, then-junior midfielder Maddie Ishaug recorded two shots and one on goal against Ohio State. Other players who will face the Buckeyes again include Aryssa Mahrt, Hailey Baumann, Riley Philbin, Ashley Martinez, Maddie Poor, Ella Ottey and Adee Boer.
One new face the Buckeyes will meet this time around is goalkeeper Drew Stover. Previous goalkeeper Erin McKinney recorded three saves and one goal allowed against Ohio State during last year’s game. Stover has started all games for the Badgers in the 2024 season, recording 50 saves with only 15 goals allowed.
Buckeyes’ junior goalkeeper Molly Pritchard has 74 saves this season but matches Stover in goals allowed with 15 overall. When Pritchard played against the Badgers in 2023, she recorded three saves.
When considering both teams’ 2024 regular season performance, two things stand out. The most stark is Ohio’s home opener against Duke on Aug. 15, where Ohio State beat Duke 1-0. Duke is now ranked No. 1 in the country, according to the United Soccer Coaches Poll. While Ohio State now sits No. 21 nationally, it still is a sign of the team's skill that they beat a highly ranked opponent so early on in the season. The game also showed off the abilities of Pritchard, who recorded a season-high 11 saves.
There was one regular season team that both the Badgers and the Buckeyes played that the Badgers did win, and that was against Iowa. The Buckeyes came up with a draw on Sept. 19, while the Badgers upset the Hawkeyes 2-1 on Oct. 10.
The Badgers will play the Buckeyes at the Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on the University of Minnesota Campus, which is playing host to the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Gabriella Hartlaub is the former arts editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has also written state politics and campus news. She currently is a summer reporting intern with Raleigh News and Observer. Follow her on Twitter at @gabihartlaub.
