They say defense wins championships.
The Badgers (9-2-2 Big Ten, 17-2-2 overall) are one step closer to proving this after defeating Minnesota (8-5-1 Big Ten, 11-9-1 overall) 1-0 Friday. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Genevieve Richard earned her 14th shutout of the season without even having to make a save. This number places her second in school history.
The defense may have put together its best effort of the season, as the Gophers were unable to manage even one shot on goal. Minnesota only mustered up six shots total against the stingy Wisconsin defense.
“You have to go back to the defense," head coach Paula Wilkins said after the win. "It's team defending. It's not even just the back four or Genevieve, it's all of them. That's what I'm really proud of.”
Wisconsin dominated on the offensive side as well, putting up 22 shots on Minnesota, including 10 on goal. Minnesota’s goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs kept her team in the game, making nine saves.
The Badgers would only need one goal though and would get it in just the ninth minute. Junior defender Brianna Stelzer found junior midfielder McKenna Meuer in the box, who found the back of the net. It was Meuer’s second goal of the season and Stelzer’s first assist of the campaign.
With the win, Wisconsin advances to the Big Ten Tournament championship for the first time since 2005, when the Badgers took home the crown.
"When we realized we couldn't [win a championship] in points, they then said that they wanted to get the highest seed they possibly could to win the tournament," Wilkins said. "I'm really proud of where they are. Now, we just need to take a step back and refocus again for Iowa.”
They will take on the No. 5 seed Iowa Hawkeyes in the championship, who defeated No. 8 seed Northwestern 1-0 in the other semifinal. The Hawkeyes also defeated a strong Rutgers team in the opening round by a score of 1-0.
The matchup figures to be a defensive clash between two teams with strong defenses. In their only contest this season Wisconsin and Iowa battled to a double overtime scoreless tie. The Badgers outshot the Hawkeyes 18-10 but only managed to put six of those shots on goal. Iowa plays a similar game to Wisconsin, frustrating opponents by giving up few scoring opportunities.
Wisconsin will have to turn to their senior goal scorers, Cara Walls and Kodee Williams, to come up big when it matters most. Iowa will look to leading goal scorer Cloe Lacasse, who has scored 12 times this season. This places her in a tie for second in the conference with Walls.
On the defensive end, Hannah Clark will do the goalkeeping for the Hawkeyes. She has earned a shutout in both of the Hawkeyes tournament games, adding to her season total of nine. With two of the best goalkeepers and defenses in the conference, the championship game will most likely be a low-scoring barnburner, where each team may only have three or four chances to find twine.
The Badgers have been playing with a fierce desire all season to prove to everyone that the program can perform on the national stage. Wisconsin has a chance to show national prowess Sunday in the Big Ten Tournament championship. The game kicks off at 2 p.m. in West Lafayette, Indiana.
UWbadgers.com contributed to this report.
