The Wisconsin women's soccer team enjoyed a successful two-game series at home this weekend with wins over Michigan State and Michigan to hold on to second place in the Big Ten standings going into their last weekend of regular season play.
The Badgers disposed of Michigan State on Friday via a brace by co-captain Laurie Nosbusch, sophomore midfileder Alev Kelter broke a scoreless draw in double overtime against Michigan on Sunday to bring the Badgers' record to 9-4-4 overall (6-1-2 Big Ten).
The Badgers jumped out to an early lead on Friday against the Spartans, with Nosbusch putting away another scrappy goal off of a fumbled save by Spartan keeper Jill Flietstra in the 22nd minute. Nosbusch tallied her second in the 62nd minute on a header from a cross by sophomore defender Lindsey Johnson. Badger keeper Michele Dalton made four saves on the way to her ninth shutout of the season.
The two goals brought Nosbusch's season total to seven, which ties her highest output in a season.
""Anytime you score a goal, it's fantastic,"" Nosbusch said following the game. ""But when you can do it against a team like Michigan State at the end of the season when you need every win that you can get, the feeling is just amazing.""
""Laurie has great leadership,"" said head coach Paula Wilkins about her captain. ""She had two goals tonight, but she was also all over the field making plays. Everybody is behind her and they see what she does and hard she works for this team. I think that her unbelievable work ethic really sets the standard for everyone else on in this program. Everyone believes in her and what she is trying to do for this squad and that really shows on the field.""
The Badgers' typically staunch defense exerted its influence again on Sunday against Michigan, keeping the Wolverines off the scoreboard for 108 minutes.
With just two minutes remaining in the second period of extra time, freshman midfielder Kodee Williams sent a cross toward Kelter in the box. Kelter hit a first-time shot that caromed off of Michigan keeper Haley Kopmeyer and the ball fell to Kelter for a second attempt, which she put away to win the match in dramatic fashion.
After the match, Kelter described the game-winning goal. ""Kodee beat her girl on the outside and got a great cross off,"" Kelter explained. ""Laurie went front post, taking her player out of the mix, and left me all alone for the shot. It feels great [to get the goal]. We were able to hang on to another game and hopefully we can keep it going.""
With the two wins, Wisconsin gave themselves a larger cushion at second place in the Big Ten standings. However, the Badgers will need a win against Northwestern next Sunday to avoid being overtaken by Penn State in the final weekend of the regular season.
