Badgers Clip Golden Eagles; Advance in NCAAs
November 15, 2002 | Women's Soccer
On a brisk, snowy night on the Marquette University campus, the Badgers defeated the Golden Eagles, 3-2, in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament Friday. It is the fifth time in eight years that Wisconsin (13-8-3) has advanced to the second round of the tournament.
"It says a lot for this team. The way in which we played today, we would have beaten a lot of teams," head coach Dean Duerst said. "I think they played with confidence. They learned some things from the Big Ten tournament and they're now taking that into a new season...the NCAAs."
For the second-straight weekend, the Badgers knocked off the host school in a tournament's opening round. Last Thursday, UW topped MSU, 1-0, in the Big Ten tournament at East Lansing, Mich.
The Badgers came out strong in the first half and their aggressiveness was displayed in the foul count as the officials called 11 Badger fouls, while tabbing only four on Marquette. But Wisconsin also did some damage on the scoreboard as well, taking a 2-0 lead before the half.
The first goal of the game came at 22:31 when Katy Lindenmuth threw in a ball from the right sideline and the Badgers' forward trio flew into action. First, senior Jess Wolff knocked the ball to junior Jenny Kundert. Kundert lobbed the ball to sophomore Amy Vermeulen and Vermeulen sent the cross home with a header into the left side of the net. Four-and-a-half minutes later sophomore Molly Meuer took advantage of a Marquette rebound and fired in a ball from 25 yards out.
Marquette came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and jumped on the Badgers early at 50:19. Kate Gordon took a pass from Carolyn Klopp and sped up the right side of the field. Beating her defender, Gordon also drew out Badger keeper Kelly Conway and she chipped the ball over Conway to cut the lead in half.
Wisconsin got an insurance goal 14 minutes later to go up 3-1 on a set play. It would also prove to be the winning score. Vermeulen was fouled just outside the box on the left side which set up a free kick. Vermeulen took the shot and curved the ball in front of the net to a crossing Wolff. Wolff headed it into the left corner for her second game-winning goal of the 2002 postseason.
Marquette put together a rally late and fired in a loose ball at 88:15. A melee in front put a couple shots on Conway and Julie Thompson tallied a goal when the referees claimed a Badger defender inside the net knocked the ball out.
The Badgers face third-seeded and No. 5 Pepperdine (17-1-2) in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday at 1 p.m. at Valley Fields in Milwaukee, Wis. Pepperdine weathered heavy snowfall and advanced to the next round by defeating UW-Milwaukee in Friday's first game, 2-0. Sunday will be the first meeting between Wisconsin and Pepperdine.
