UW Blanks Indiana 2-0 in Big Ten Opener
September 19, 2003 | Women's Soccer
After being forced to sit out the Badgers' 2-1 loss to Nebraska Sunday due to injury, Jenny Kundert found her way back to the Wisconsin women's soccer team's lineup Friday night. Kundert's first-half goal was all the scoring UW would need as it downed Indiana 2-0 in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Wisconsin improves to 5-2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten with the win, while Indiana falls to 2-4-0 and 0-1, respectively.
Both teams took a conservative, defensive approach in the opening stages of the contest. The Badgers were finally able to find a hole in the Hoosiers defense in the 20th minute of play as Kundert took a feed from Emily Kintzer at the top of the 18-yard box, worked her way around a pair of Hoosier defenders and delivered a shot from a tough angle into the upper left corner for her fifth goal of the season.
"She is so experienced," Wisconsin head coach Dean Duerst said of Kundert. "She's just so dangerous that you can run off her. It's great to see her keep that balance--do something on your own, use your teammates smart. Our players can look for her and find her and she's good enough to say, 'I want it, give it to me, let's go.'"
UW held a slim 5-2 advantage in first-half shots as both teams played it safe.
"Both coaches know each other really well, and we know that we're going to give it our all," Duerst said. "As players, you want them to go after it. It was kind of like you didn't want to make any kind of mistake early."
Wisconsin maintained its precarious one-goal lead into the 75th minute when Kundert took a hard foul in the goal area and the Badgers were awarded a penalty kick.
Freshman Kara Kabellis delivered all the breathing room Wisconsin would need, putting the penalty kick past Hoosier keeper Shaunna Daugherty into the lower left corner of the goal. It was the third goal of the season for Kabellis.
Stefani Szczechowski made three saves in picking up her second shutout win of the season and her career. The Badgers held a slight 10-8 edge in shots and a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks for the match.
Wisconsin returns to action at 1 p.m. Sunday when it plays host to Purdue at the McClimon Complex.
