25th Reunion Highlights Weekend
October 06, 2006 | Women's Soccer
The 25th anniversary reunion celebration of Wisconsin women's soccer highlights the weekend for the Badgers, who stand at 5-4-2 overall and 2-2-0 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin will play host to Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday at the McClimon Soccer Complex. On Saturday, more than 100 current and former women's soccer players and staff will gather at the Kohl center for a celebration of 25 years of varsity soccer. The weekend concludes Sunday with an alumni match at 11 a.m. at the U-Bay Fields, followed by the Badgers taking on Michigan State at 1 p.m. at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
Wisconsin head coach Dean Duerst, now in his 13th season, is just one win shy of career victory No. 150. Seven different players have scored for Duerst this year, led by Sheri Ferron's four goals and Kara Kabellis and Krista Liskevych, who each have scored three times. Defender Ann Eshun leads Wisconsin in assists with four on the year. In the net, Lynn Murray earned both starts last week and has just a 0.96 goals against average and two shutouts in five games.
Michigan enters its matchup against the Badgers will a .500 record at 5-5-2 overall and 1-2-0 record in the conference. All-Big Ten selection Melissa Dobbyn leads the Wolverines with three goals and three assists this season. Teammate Judy Coffman also has three goals while Megan Turra leads the team in the net with four shutouts, a 0.45 goals against average and 26 saves. Turra's goals against average is tops in the Big Ten.
The last time the Badgers and Wolverines faced off was in the Big Ten tournament championship, which Wisconsin won 3-1 to claim the title. UW also beat Michigan in the regular season last year, 2-1, and is 9-8-1 all-time against the Wolverines.
Michigan State is 4-6-1 overall and 2-3-0 in the conference heading into the weekend. The Spartans will face Northwestern Friday before coming to Madison to take on the Badgers Sunday. Freshman Lauren Hill leads Michigan State with seven goals this season. Hill also has two assists for 16 points, the most among all Big Ten players. Lauren Sinacola is second on the team with four scores. In the net, Nicole Galas has played in all 11 games with 46 saves and three shutouts.
The Badger and Spartans programs are the two oldest among Big Ten schools. Women's soccer began at Wisconsin in 1981 and at Michigan State in 1986. The Badgers have earned a 17-3-2 advantage in the all-time series with Michigan State. Last season, the two teams slpit its matches. Michigan State claimed a 3-2 win at home during the regular season but Wisconsin beat MSU 2-1 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
