MADISON, Wis. – "They always say big players do big things in big games and obviously that's what she did for us today."
 
Head coach Paula Wilkins nailed it on the head as Rose Lavelle came up big time for the Wisconsin women's soccer team on Wednesday night. The program closed out its regular season with a 2-1 win at the McClimon Complex thanks to a two-goal effort from Lavelle.
 
The senior midfielder went out with a bang, notching both goals within seven minutes from each other in the second half to lead the team to victory.
 
"On the first goal, Micaela (Powers) had a free kick and she's always so good at those services," Lavelle said. "We had to take our chances so I got in the box, someone had a really awesome flick, and I was pretty wide open."
 
After Rutgers (9-3-6 overall, 4-2-5 Big Ten) got on the board first in the 40th minute, Lavelle came back with a vengeance for Wisconsin (8-4-7, 5-2-4) in the second half, notching the equalizer in the 74th minute.
 
Lavelle knocked in the goal off of a header from freshman midfielder Grace Bahr that materialized from Powers' corner kick to tie things up, 1-1.
 
Lavelle struck again in the 83rd minute, rocketing in a shot from about 20-yards out off of the feed from freshman defender Payton Wesley to put the Badgers up, 2-1.
 
Lavelle clinched a couple of season milestones with her standout performance, marking the first time a Badger has notched two goals in a game this season. Additionally, Lavelle's four points from her two goals is the most points tallied in a single game by a Wisconsin player this season. It was also Lavelle's first gamewinner of the season.
 
The game's statistical significance did not stop there as the Badgers' three assists was the most in a game in 2016 and UW's seven total points is the second-most this season after the Badgers notched nine against Purdue earlier this year.
 
Overall, the Cardinal and White dominated the pitch, outshooting Rutgers 16-7 and accumulating 12 corner kicks throughout the game while the Scarlet Knights only tallied one. The corner kick advantage is the largest for the Badgers in Big Ten play this season and third-largest in any game.
 
Lavelle and junior forward Sydney McGinnis led the offensive attack, with McGinnis leading the team in shots with five. Lavelle posted four shots while earning a season-high three shots on goal.

Wisconsin is now 2-3-1 in regular season finales in the last six seasons.
 
The Badgers were awarded with the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play the fourth-seeded Michigan Wolverines. The game is slated to begin at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 30.
 
"I think it's a whole new season," Wilkins said. "We basically clear the slate on everything and it's one game, go home, so I believe that it's a great mindset. This team has done really well, we're unbeaten in the last seven games, and they've just changed themselves since Indiana and I like them going in this direction for sure."