Wisconsin faces Arizona State in first round of NCAA Tournament
November 12, 2009 | Women's Soccer
Wisconsin Tournament Notes 
| ASU Tournament Notes
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin women’s soccer team is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005, riding a seven game unbeaten streak. The Badgers (9-5-5, 5-1-4 Big Ten) have been selected to host the first and second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament this Friday and Sunday, Nov. 13 and 15, at the McClimon Soccer Complex. Wisconsin will face Arizona State for the first meeting between the two teams at 7:30 p.m. following UW-Milwaukee and Central Florida who play at 5 p.m. The winner of the two games will play each other on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. in the second round of the tournament.
Wisconsin’s seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3) is its longest streak since 2005 when UW won seven straight games on its way to capturing the Big Ten Tournament title. Wisconsin looks to improve on its 5-1-4 record at McClimon this season, dropping just one game to Minnesota in overtime. The Badgers have not hosted a tournament game since 2000, but UW holds a 5-1 record at McClimon in the first round of the tournament.
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE
Madison, Wis. - McClimon Soccer Complex - Tournament Central
Friday, Nov. 13
- 5 p.m. – Central Florida vs. UW-Milwaukee
- 7:30 p.m. – Arizona State vs. Wisconsin
Sunday, Nov. 15
- 1 p.m. – Winners of the games on Friday
Badgers in the NCAA Tournament
The Badgers are making its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1985, the most in the Big Ten. The Badgers hold a 11-14-0 NCAA Tournament record.
Their most recent appearance was due to an automatic bid after winning the Big Ten Tournament title in 2005. The Badgers lost in the first round to Marquette, 1-0.
In 1991, UW made it to the finals beating Hartford and Colorado College on the way. In the finals, the Badgers fell to North Carolina, 3-1. The furthest UW has gotten since then was the second rounds which they have made it to six times.
Head coach Paula Wilkins is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. In her six years as head coach at Penn State, her team made it to the tournament every year. The Nittany Lion’s tournament record under Wilkins is an outstanding 18-5-1.
Scouting the opponent
Arizona State (9-7-3, 2-6-1 Pac-10)
The Sun Devils are making their first NCAA appearance since 2003 after finishing their regular season by winning their last two games, defeating Oregon State 1-0 in overtime and Oregon 2-1.
ASU is led by junior Alexandra Elston who finished off the regular season with 20 points from seven goals and six assists.
Kevin Boyd is in his third season as head coach for the Sun Devils. Boyd has compiled a 27-24-8 record as ASU and a 151-87-28 career record.
ASU defeated Tennessee 3-2 on Aug. 28, while the Badgers dropped a 1-0 decision to the Volunteers a week later. Both teams fell to top-ranked Stanford this season, Wisconsin in a 6-0 defeat and ASU by a score of 3-1.
UWM (12-5-3) and UCF (16-4-1)
Milwaukee Notes | UCF Knights Notes
Milwaukee has won 10 straight games, including posting an 8-0 record in league play. The Panthers shut out a pair of league foes on their way to a sixth Horizon League tournament title.
The UCF Knights enter the NCAA tournament with a 16-4-1 record. The Knights won the Conference USA regular season title with a 10-1 record but fell to Memphis in the C-USA championship game, 3-0.
UW is 2-1-1 all-time against Central Florida, with the teams’ last meeting coming in 1998. UWM is a familiar foe, as the Badgers played the Panthers to a 0-0 draw in their home-opener this season. Wisconsin leads the all-time series with UWM, 17-4-5.
Badger notes
The Badgers clinched third place in the Big Ten with the win over Northwestern and a 5-1-4 record in conference games. Their third-place finish in the Big Ten marks the program’s best finish since the 2000 season, when UW took second place in conference. The last time UW went through a Big Ten season with fewer than two losses was in 1996, when the team posted a 5-0-2 record.
Fittingly, Wisconsin finished the season ranked third during Big Ten play for goals, goals per game, assists and assists per game.
After improving seven spots in the Big Ten Conference standings from a year ago, Wisconsin had two players named second-team All-Big Ten honorees, sophomore forward Laurie Nosbusch and freshman midfielder Alev Kelter. Four rookies made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, including Kelter, along with Paige Adams, Monica Lam-Feist, and Lindsey Johnson. Senior Ashley Hedges was named the team’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Nosbusch and Kelter mark UW’s first appearance on the All-Big Ten Conference Teams since Kara Kabellis earned first team honors in 2006.
Nosbusch leads the Badgers in every category this season after returning as the top leading scorer from a year ago. Nosbusch has six goals and five assists on the season including three game-winning goals. Nosbusch had a five-game scoring streak before the Badgers played to a scoreless draw against Michigan. She has notched points in seven of the last nine games.
Wisconsin’s nine wins matches its win total from a year ago with. The win over Northwestern gives UW the total number of conference wins from the last two seasons combined, five.
The tie against Penn State snapped the Badgers 12-game losing streak against head coach Paula Wilkins’ former Nittany Lions during the regular season. The last time the Badgers tied Penn State during the regular season was Sept. 27, 1996. The Badgers’ win over Illinois snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Fighting Illini, dating back to November, 2002.
Eight of UW’s 19 games have gone into overtime this season, marking the program’s most overtimes in a season. The Badgers hold a 2-1-5 overtime record this season after going 1-0-1 last season. Both of the overtime wins came in the second overtime period of 1-0 victories.
Michele Dalton has made 17 starts for the Badgers including six shutouts, with a .775 save percentage and a 1.25 goals-against average.
The Badgers have had a staggering 123 corner kicks through 18 games this season, including an NCAA-record 23 against Green Bay. The Badgers rank third in corner kicks behind Minnesota (145) and Ohio State (140). Wisconsin tallied 99 corners in 2008.
Twelve of UW’s 19 matches have been decided by one goal, including seven by the score of 1-0. The Badgers have won six and lost one by a score of 1-0. The Badgers have only scored more than one goal in a game four times this season, going 3-1 when scoring more than one goal.
UW has scored 20 goals this season and allowed 23, with 15 of those coming from ranked opponents. Nine different Badgers have scored for UW, with four Badgers netting more than one goal. Nosbusch has six while sophomores Erin Jacobsen and Paige Adams each have three. Meghan Flannery and freshmen Alev Kelter have two apiece.
