The Wisconsin women's soccer team's season ended Friday with a 1-0 loss to Northwestern. The Badgers hopes of reaching the Big Ten tournament were crushed after Northwestern junior Alicia Herczeg snuck a shot past senior goalkeeper Jamie Klages in the 81st minute.
Wisconsin ends the year with a record of 9-9-1 overall, which is much improved from last years 6-11-1 record. It was a hard night, not only losing the game but also failing to make the postseason for the third straight year.
It's obviously disappointing. We want [to] make a step for the program,"" Wisconsin head coach Paula Wilkins said. ""I think how [we] played in the game though you couldn't ask for too much more.""
The Badgers honored their seniors before the game and came out tough against an overachieving Wildcat team. The first half was evenly played with both teams creating opportunities. The Badgers had their best chance to take the lead when freshman Erin Jacobsen rushed past Northwestern's defense but was unable to get the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards.
It was a different story in the second half as Northwestern offense came alive and blasted the Badger defense for 11 shots including a number of close calls. Klages made a diving save and a few minutes later Northwestern sophomore Jennifer Baumann hit a shot off the crossbar.
There was a sense on the field that it was only a matter of time before the Wildcats were going to get one in the back of the net. After the goal the Badgers needed to score twice in nine minutes, an almost impossible task against a defense they struggled to finish on all game.
The loss was the last college game for seniors Taylor Walsh, Tricia Krombach, Sheri Ferron and Klages. Walsh has led the team in scoring over the last three years and finished her career with 21 goals.
Although the Badgers season ended on a disappointing note, the next couple of years are looking bright for Wisconsin. Wilkins has brought in talented recruits and the already young Badgers are going to get even younger.
""[The season] had its ups and downs. I think we made a little cornerstone for the future,"" Wilkins said. ""In most of our games we started five freshmen, who had most of our [scoring opportunities] and I think that's a good start for the future.""
Wilkins isn't going to predict a breakthrough season for next year but knows the opportunity will be there.
""We'll have 11 incoming players and of that 11 I think there are going to be five possible starters, so we'll have a core of freshmen and sophomores,"" Wilkins said.
