LINCOLN, Neb. -- With its sixth-straight shutout and a trio of goals, the Wisconsin women's soccer team earned a 3-0 win on the road against Nebraska at Hibner Stadium on Sunday.
Led by a three-point performance from
Rose Lavelle and yet another shutout by the Badger defense, the Badgers (8-4-3, 5-1-1) won their fifth-straight game.
"I'm excited that our team was able to get two results on the road," UW head coach
Paula Wilkins said of the Badgers, who also won at Iowa on Thursday. "Nebraska presented certain challenges and I felt that our team responded to them well and executed on what we asked. This was another team effort all around. We've continued to build confidence and people have been stepping up."
Freshman midfielder
Victoria Pickett got Wisconsin going offensively in the first half, scoring her second goal of the year unassisted in the 23rd minute to give UW a 1-0 lead.
Steph Fabry also scored her second goal of the year in the first half. The freshman forward found net in the 39th minute thanks to assists from junior midfielders Lavelle and
Micaela Powers.
Lavelle provided the dagger and scored UW's third goal in the 88th minute. With her fifth goal of the season and an assist earlier in the game, the MAC Hermann Trophy candidate ended her day with three points. She now leads the team with 13 points this year.
"Offensively, we've had some people step up in leadership roles and it's made a difference. They've really locked stuff down," Wilkins said. "The team has bought into the different coaching ideas that we've presented them with. They've done well with our game plan. Discipline has been very important along with leadership. It starts up top with the forwards and trickles down from there.
"Defensively too,
Caitlyn Clem has settled in more in the back and we've been building confidence."
Clem finished with two saves for her sixth-straight shutout and seventh of the year. That ties her with Michele Dalton for 11th in school history for shutouts in a season.
Clem and the UW defense have not conceded a goal over the last 569 minutes, 22 seconds.
Wisconsin returns home to Madison for a two-game homestand, beginning Thursday against Michigan at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on national television by Big Ten Network.
