The Wisconsin women’s soccer team beat the fourth seeded University of Virginia in penalty kicks on Friday to earn a spot in the the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
Despite logging no shots on goal, the Badgers took down Virginia in penalty kicks 4-2 after double overtime. In a game that will no doubt go down in program history as nothing short of miraculous, Wisconsin made every penalty kick that they attempted. Sophomore Ella Ottey made the final penalty kick to win the game.
After 110 minutes of play, the score remained 0-0 due in no small part to Wisconsin goalkeeper Drew Stover, who had five saves for the game. It was Stover’s effort that saved the game for the Badgers as they struggled offensively against Virginia. If any of Virginia's five shots on goal went in, the Badgers’ season would’ve been done before overtime even started. It was also Stover who gave the Badgers the upper hand in the penalty kick shootout when she blocked Virginia's first shot attempt, which eventually led to Wisconsin’s win.
Stover’s clean sheet was one of the only bright spots for a game in which the Badgers struggled offensively.
Throughout the season, the Badgers have consistently outshot their opponents by large margins, but they struggled to get past the Virginia defense throughout the game, ending the game with six shots to Virginia's nine. For a team that has averaged 11.9 shots per game, to have only six shots is usually an insurmountable error, especially during tournament play.
As the Badgers move on to face the No.1 seed USC, these kinds of errors will be certain death for the Badgers’ Elite Eight hopes. When Wisconsin and USC last met in September, the Badgers lost 0-3 in a game where they also had no shots on goal and USC had twice the amount of overall shots.
While a victory in this game shows that miracles are possible, it will take nothing short of that to push the Badgers over USC and on to the Elite Eight.
The Badgers play the Trojans Sunday Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN+.
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.
