The Wisconsin women's soccer team made the most of their opportunities on the road this weekend and left the state of Tennessee with wins over Tennessee and Vanderbilt to extend their winning streak to three games. Laurie Nosbusch produced the game-winning goal in each match, and the Badgers improved their overall record to 3-3-2 to get back on track after going winless in their first five matches.
On Friday, Wisconsin matched up with a physical University of Tennessee side in a match that saw the Badgers jump out to a fast start offensively. Wisconsin registered six shots in the first half hour, three of which were on target, before finally getting on the scoreboard in the 34th minute via a Nosbusch header. Freshman midfielder Catie Sessions served a ball into the area from the right, and Nosbusch was able to connect to put the Badgers up 1-0 and give Sessions her first assist and point as a Badger.
Head coach Paula Wilkins was understandably pleased with the play of her freshman midfielder. ""It was great timing and a great serve, Nosbusch made a great effort to get in front of the Tennessee defense and get a head on the ball,"" Wilkins said.
The Badgers would go on to withstand a Tennessee attack that recorded 20 shots (eight on goal) to earn their second consecutive shutout thanks largely in part to the outstanding play of senior goalkeeper Michele Dalton, who made eight saves, five of which came after the Badgers notched the only goal of the match.
""Michele had two great saves in the second half to maintain the shutout,"" Wilkins said. ""Both teams were resilient. Tennessee had some great looks on goal, and they put forth a great effort.""
Wisconsin carried their momentum into Nashville on Sunday for the match against Vanderbilt, prevailing again despite being outshot 10-6 (6-3 on goal). The Badger defense earned their fourth consecutive shutout to extend their winning streak to three games, while the offense scored multiple goals for the first time this season.
Nosbusch tallied her second goal in as many games to put the Badgers up 1-0 on a counter-attack from a Vanderbilt corner kick after 32 minutes, and junior forward Lauren Cochlin netted just 6 minutes later on a nice individual effort to cap the Badgers' scoring. Goalkeeper Dalton made six saves to seal the win for the Badgers and put them at 1-0-1 in their history against Vanderbilt.
After the game, coach Wilkins had more praise for her senior goalkeeper.
""Michele was outstanding today,"" Wilins said. ""She made two great breakaway saves. Her positioning was very good the entire game. At the end of the game, she also made a great one-on-one save to keep the score at zero and give us another shutout.""
The Badgers will hope to build on their recent success next weekend when they travel to Indiana to open up Big Ten play against Purdue Friday at 3:30 p.m. and Indiana Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
-uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
