Revenge is sweet and the No. 8 seed Wisconsin women's soccer team finally got theirs as they defeated No. 1 seed Penn State 1-0 during the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday night at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
The match included 110 minutes of scoreless soccer and the final outcome came thanks to a shootout. Each team had no trouble with its first three kicks as each found the back of the net with ease.
UW sophomore midfielder/forward Jessica Ring then took the 4-3 lead in the shootout for UW by sinking her kick.
The Lions were not ready to give up but were down to their last kick and last chance to hang on in the drawn out competition. Senior defender Leigh Hamilton gave it her best but could not connect as her shot ricocheted off the right goal post, which brought home victory for Wisconsin.
\We kept saying we just need her to make one and she stuck that one,"" UW Head Coach Dean Duerst said. ""She grew as the game went on and she got challenged to improve her game. Because of that challenge she's showing more of a confident arrogance that players need to have.""
This back and forth game proved that neither team was willing to give in. Though the score did not show it, each team had many opportunities to put the other away. Penn State out-shot Wisconsin 27-10 and had 10 shots on goal compared to UW's six.
Duerst, however, never lost faith in his team knowing they would stick it out until the end.
""I thought we were going to win and I think you have to go into a game like that believing in yourselves and your team,"" Duerst said. ""They're a giant team and we were able to make it into a great game. Every minute that it went longer, our kids got stronger as well.""
The last time these two teams met the outcome was not as pleasant as the Lions rolled over the Badgers 5-0. The plan of attack needed to change if Wisconsin had any hope of overcoming Penn State.
""We changed up our formation a little bit and let them come to us instead of trying to attack right away,"" senior midfielder/forward Jenny Kundert said. ""We were the only ones that felt that we believed we could win so we wanted to prove that to everyone out there.""
""We tried to play them a little too wide open last time,"" Duerst said. ""It got away from us. Here we knew their style, we knew what areas were the biggest strengths of their team and we just shut that down today.""
With this victory the Badgers will face Michigan at 7:30 p.m. tonight in what could be another lengthy match. The Wolverines are in the same state as the Badgers as they also won an overtime victory against Ohio State. The winner of this match will play in the finals on Sunday at 1 p.m.
