Gritty Wisconsin women's soccer shuts out UWM in NCAA tournament, will face Texas next
Mark StewartMADISON – Scoring on set pieces hasn’t been a strength of the Wisconsin women's soccer team this season, though it was hard to tell Friday night.
The Badgers scored two second-half goals off set plays to record a 2-0 victory over UWM in a NCAA tournament first-round game at the McClimon Complex.
Senior Emma Jaskaniec scored in the 60th minute off a pass from junior Maddie Ishaug. Seven minutes later Ishaug scored unassisted. Both came off corner kicks.
The goals highlighted a performance that after the first 30 minutes was controlled by the Badgers, a No. 4 seed in the tournament. UW (14-4-4) allowed just two shots, one on goal, while getting 19 shots, 12 on goal.
It was one of those nights when it wasn’t a question of if UW would score but when.
“The game of soccer is about wearing down people," Wisconsin coach Paula Wilkins said. "The more you have to chase and the more you have to retreat and defend the more tired you get and so we talked at halftime, saying it's going to come we just have to keep wearing them down and keep moving the ball."
The victory didn't come without a price. Senior Aryssa Mahrt, the team's second-leading scorer, went down with an injury in the 25th minute and didn't return.
UWM hadn’t lost since falling to Marquette, 1-0, on Sept. 7, a span of 12 games. The Panthers played UW even during the early stages of the match, but began to lose steam during the final 15 minutes of the first half.
Controlling the ball was a problem the rest of the night.
“It wasn’t an effort issue, it was a quality issue,” UWM coach Kevin Boyd said. “We got rattled. We didn’t take care of the ball that well. I thought my goalkeeper (Kendall Edwards) was outstanding, but any time you’re talking about how good your goalkeeper was in a game it probably means you didn’t play well with the ball.”
Emma Jaskaniec scored her team-high 12th goal of the season
Jaskaniec’s goal was her team-high 12 of the season. The Badgers’ corner kick was unsuccessful, but Ishaug controlled the rebound and fired a shot on goal that was redirected by Jaskaniec.
“It was coming right to me and I just kind of flicked it,” said Jaskaniec, a Menomonee Falls High School graduate. “(It was) more of the right place, right time so I definitely have to give credit to my teammates there and our coaches for putting together the play.”
UW’s second goal came in similar fashion only this time Ishaug’s shot needed no help.
The goals were just the second and third set pieces the Badgers scored on this season.
“I think we got a little more organized before the NCAAs because we knew that Milwaukee was going to be very good defensively, hard to break down, and so we said there were going to be certain ways we were going to have to do it,” Wilkins said. “We’re going to have to get around the corner, we’re going to have to follow up shots and we’re going to have to be good on set pieces. That’s an area we focused on this week in training.”
UWM's 12-game unbeaten streak was snapped
Edwards, a graduate student, finished with 10 saves for the Panthers. The Horizon League champion finished 12-3-5 and made the NCAA field for the sixth straight year.
“I said, 'You can’t fault your effort. Your effort was great. We just didn’t play that well,'" Boyd said. "But I said, you had an outstanding season. Where we’re going and what we’re building on, we’re doing well, we’ve just got to keep adding little pieces so when we play guys like this in the playoffs we can win these games.”
Wisconsin, meanwhile, moves on to Tallahasse, Florida, where the Badgers will take on the No. 5 seed Texas, a 2-0 winner over Lamar on Friday. The Longhorns won the Big 12 tournament after finishing fourth in the regular-season standings.
A victory would send the Badgers to the Sweet 16 for the second time three seasons.
“We have a lot of depth this year and we’re full of talent," Jaskaniec said, "but I think the biggest thing that makes this team and Wisconsin special is the grit that we have no matter who we’re playing whether it’s UNC, Florida State or low-level team, we’re going to bring it to you.”