Badgers take on Boston College this Friday in Sweet 16
November 18, 2009 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 18, 2009
The Wisconsin women’s soccer team (10-5-6, 5-1-4 Big Ten) continues its incredible NCAA run when UW faces second-seeded and seventh-ranked Boston College in the Sweet Sixteen. The Badgers will travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. on Friday, Nov. 20 where they will take on BC at 7 p.m. ET. Both teams will play for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals to take on the winner of the Stanford vs. Santa Clara game.
Wisconsin advanced to the third round after two exciting games at McClimon last weekend. In the first round the Badgers faced Arizona State ending in a 1-1 tie after two overtimes, but advanced after winning 4-3 in penalty kicks. Leigh Williams scored early from a flip throw-in by Lindsey Johnson at the 1:39 mark. Sophomore keeper, Michele Dalton made two diving saves in the five round shootout to advance to the second round.
The Badgers then took on Central Florida in the second round of the tourney after they defeated UW-Milwaukee 3-0. Wisconsin earned the 1-0 win with Roxanne Carlson’s first-half goal. This was Carlson’s first career goal with Laurie Nosbusch earning her sixth assist of the season. The Badgers outshot the third-seeded Knights 19-6 in the contest.
Sweet Sixteen at a glance
NCAA Tournament Bracket –Chestnut Hill, Mass. – Newton Field – Directions – Ticket Information
• Sweet Sixteen – Friday, Nov. 20
Wisconsin vs. Boston College (7) – 7 p.m. ET
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 12-14-1 NCAA Tournament record.
Their previous 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.
Prior to Sunday’s 1-0 win over Central Florida, UW has dropped its previous six second-round games in the NCAA Tournament. This marks the first time the Badgers are advancing to the Sweet 16 since 1993 when the Badgers advanced to the quarterfinals; however, the tournament was only four rounds and a 16-team field in 1993. Since the tournament went to a 64-field in 2001 this is the first time the Badgers advanced past the second round.
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, marking its best finish in the tournament.
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 Lions’ tournament record under Wilkins is an outstanding 18-5-1.
Scouting the opponent
Boston College (17-3-2, 7-3-1 ACC)
This is the Eagles seventh consecutive season making it to the NCAA Tournament. They have made it to the tournament 13 times, nine times under current head coach Alison Kulik.
Boston College finished its regular season on a four-game win streak, but tied Virginia and lost to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.
The Eagles defeated Harvard, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and beat Connecticut, 2-0, in the second round.
Victoria DiMartino has been BC’s dominate force this season. The freshman leads the team in goals, with 14, and points, 32. She’s also third on the team with four assists.
Kulik is in her 13th season as the head coach at BC. The Eagles have improved to 154-78-23 during her tenure. In 14 years as a head coach, Kulik is 158-86-26 overall.
Wisconsin has only faced Boston College once before. In 2004, the Badgers earned the 5-3 victory over the Eagles in the regular season showdown at McClimon.
Badger notes
UW is riding a nine-game unbeaten streak (5-0-4), the longest since 1996 when the Badgers went 13-straight games without a loss (10-0-3).
The Badgers’ win over Central Florida is their ninth shutout of the season and seventh game won by a score of 1-0. All 10 of UW’s wins this season were determined by one goal.
Wisconsin is now the only team in the Big Ten Conference in the NCAA Tournament after Penn State was upset by Virginia losing 6-2 in the second round. Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan State all dropped their first round contests.
Wisconsin’s shootout win was the first for UW since 2003, when the Badgers knocked off Wilkins’ Nittany Lions 4-3 to advance Big Ten Tournament. The pk win over ASU was the first-ever for Wilkins as a coach or player.
The win over No. 13 Central Florida marks the second ranked opponent UW has knocked off this season. After dropping its first three games, the Badgers are 2-3-2 against ranked opponents this season as they head to No. 7 Boston College. The 3-2 win over the No. 19 Hoosiers on Oct. 4, marked UW’s first win against a ranked opponent this season and first under third-year head coach Paula Wilkins. The last time the Badgers defeated a ranked team prior to this season was Nov. 3, 2005 against No. 20 Purdue.
The Badgers clinched third place in the Big Ten with the Big Ten finale win over Northwestern. The Badgers’ third-place finish in the Big Ten marks the program’s best finish since the 2000 season, when UW took second place in conference.
Wisconsin went 5-1-4 in the Big Ten putting them in sole possession of third place, a vast improvement from its 10th place finish last season and its predicted seventh place finish in the preseason coaches poll. UW’s 19 points (three points for a win and one for a tie) are the most since the 2000 season when UW finished with a 7-3-0 record (21 points) taking second in the Big Ten.
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.
Wisconsin’s nine regular season 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.
Wisconsin’s tough non-conference schedule paid off in the end, going 5-1-4 in conference play and posting their best conference record under head coach Paula Wilkins.
After the Badgers dropped a tough 6-0 loss to current top-ranked Stanford, the Badgers have only dropped one match since, falling to Minnesota due to a penalty kick in overtime.
The tie against Penn State snapped the Badgers 12-game losing streak against 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.
Wisconsin went 5-1-4 on its home field this season, dropping just one game to Minnesota in overtime. The Badgers improved to 4-2-1 on the road this season after dropping its first two road and neutral matches.
Sophomore Laurie 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 six 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.
With all of her goals coming during Big Ten play, Nosbusch finished in third in the Big Ten for shots, goals and points during conference play while tying for second in game-winning goals.
Nine of UW’s 21 games have gone into overtime this season, marking the program’s most overtimes in a season. The Badgers hold a 2-1-6 overtime record this season after going 1-0-1 last season. Both of the overtime wins came in the second overtime period in 1-0 victories.
Nosbusch recorded her first career hat trick against Indiana on Oct. 4. It was the teams’ first since Taylor Walsh recorded one last year against Vermont and she is only the third Badger to record a hat trick at McClimon. Erica Handelman (1994) and Amy Vermeulen (2004) were the only priors. Handelman’s hat trick also came against Indiana on Oct. 2, 1994.
Michele Dalton has made 19 starts for the Badgers including seven shutouts, with a .786 save percentage and a 1.17 goals-against average.
The Badgers have had a staggering 133 corner kicks through 21 games this season, including an NCAA-record 23 against Green Bay.
UW has scored 22 goals this season and allowed 24, with 15 of those coming from ranked opponents. Eleven different Badgers have scored for UW, with five 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.
The Badgers have a young squad with a total of nine freshmen and sophomores in the starting lineup. Four Badger freshmen have taken a starting role for Wisconsin, Alev Kelter, Monica Lam-Feist, Lindsey Johnson and Paige Adams.
