After losing 2-1 to No. 16 Missouri Friday night, the Wisconsin women's soccer team looked at its match against Kentucky Sunday as a must-win. Judging by its dominant performance against the Wildcats, the team certainly took that fact to heart.
Wisconsin (3-2-2) took down Kentucky (5-3) Sunday afternoon at McClimon Soccer Complex, earning a relatively easy 1-0 victory that wasn't as competitive as the final score indicated.
Spurred by the return of senior midfielder Kara Kabellis, who sat out Friday's game because of the red card she received last weekend, the Badgers rolled over the Wildcats right from the start. Wisconsin, led by Kabellis' seven shots, outshot Kentucky 19-5, including a 10-0 margin in the first half. The Badgers also held an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks.
But despite the domination on the stat sheet, the Badgers couldn't gain much separation on the scoreboard, a theme eerily similar to the team's struggles last season. While Wisconsin peppered the Kentucky goal with shots from every direction, only a header from Kabellis actually found the back of the net.
After a scoreless first half, UW finally got on the scoreboard at 53:57. Sophomore forward Elise Weber lofted a perfect corner kick toward the far post, where Kabellis was able to redirect it past Kentucky goalkeeper Anne Ogundele for her first goal of the season. While Wisconsin had numerous chances the rest of the way, it was the only goal the team could muster.
""As a coach, I want them to feel like they should have won this game 3-0,"" head coach Dean Duerst said. ""They can't settle. They want to be more determined, and not settle into that mindset.""
Kabellis agreed that the team had to be capable of scoring more consistently.
""We have to be able to finish,"" she said. ""Luckily we finished one. But that inability to score, obviously we're going to have to fix that.""
Still, despite the Badgers' inability to finish, their increase in scoring opportunities was encouraging.
""We moved the ball around really effectively,"" Duerst said. ""We moved it around enough to get a lot of quality chances.""
Also encouraging to UW was the solid play of junior goaltender Lynn Murray, who played for the first time since leaving the season opener with a concussion. Murray made two saves, recording the team's second shutout of the year.
The win over Kentucky will provide Wisconsin with much needed momentum heading into the Big Ten schedule next weekend, especially after the team ran into a red-hot Missouri squad Friday night.
With its victory over UW, Missouri improved to 5-0 against the Big Ten. The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead with just 19 seconds remaining in the first half when midfielder Elyse Nikonchuk scored on a free-kick from 30 yards out.
""You can't gift a goal to the No. 16 team in the country,"" Duerst said. ""You can't do those things if you're going to succeed. You can't give them two goals, and we definitely gave them the one.""
Missouri used the momentum of their first goal to extend the lead less than three minutes into the second half. Midfielder Kristin Andrighetto was able to score in transition, lofting a beautiful shot over the head of senior goaltender Stef Szczechowski.
The Badgers were able to cut the lead in half when junior midfielder Marissa Sarkesian converted for her second goal of the season. Junior defender Ann Eshun was credited with the assist. That was as close as UW got, however, as they failed to mount much of an offensive attack as the game wound down.
The Badgers take on Illinois and Iowa at home next weekend.
