COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Wisconsin women's soccer team bowed out of the second round of the NCAA tournament on Friday night, falling to No. 1-seeded South Carolina, 1-0, at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium.
The Badgers did a great job disrupting the Gamecocks' rhythm the entire game, holding them to eight shots, as they entered the match averaging almost 16 shots per game.
South Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute courtesy of a goal from freshman Luciana Zullo, her fifth of the season scoring from the right side.
Though the stat sheet may not reflect it, the first half was all Wisconsin. The Badgers dominated possession and outshot South Carolina, 5-2, tying 2-2 on shots on goal. UW received five offside calls in the first half, ruining some good chances. The Cardinal and White also held a 3-0 edge in corner kicks at the half.
UW's staunch defense held the Gamecocks without a shot up until the 36th minute.
South Carolina did not get its first corner kick opportunity until there was 26 minutes remaining in the game, where the Badgers had already had five.
The Gamecocks outshot the Badgers 8-7 and 4-2 in shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Caitlyn Clem made three saves in her career finale.
Three players, Victoria Pickett, Dani Rhodes and Alexis Tye shared the team lead with two shots apiece. Both of Rhodes' tries at South Carolina keeper Mika Krzeczowski were on net.
Notes to Know:
-The Badgers finished the season with a 14-6-2 record.
-South Carolina clinched the win in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
-The Badgers are now 16-19-2 all-time in the NCAA tournament.
-Seniors Caitlyn Clem ended outstanding careers with the Badgers.
-It was only the fifth time UW had been shut out all season.
-Wisconsin will return nine of 11 starters next season, including first-team All-Big Ten selection Victoria Pickett and second-team All-Big Ten pick Dani Rhodes.
-Wisconsin held the edge in corner kicks, 6-3.
Performance of the Game: Camryn Biegalski was a frustration for South Carolina all night long. The sophomore defender caused them issue after issue, tripping up the USC offense when it seemed it had plenty of opportunities.
Straight from the Pitch:
Head Coach Paula Wilkins
"First and foremost I'd like to congratulate South Carolina on a well-played game. I watched a lot of film on them before this game and we knew that they were extremely talented and had played a lot of really good teams to get to where they are right now. Huge credit to them and wish them luck moving onto the round of 16. I was proud of the performance of my players today. We had a game plan coming in and they did a good job sticking to it. I'm excited for the group coming back. They're quite young and this experience is going to be something that we use moving forward to prepare our training for next year and open up the new experience."
On this season's team:
"What I said to them after the game, it's always hard as a coach to say the right things after a game, what I said was that they came a long way. From our training, what we were doing and what we are right now, but even our first couple games. The two people sitting beside me [Victoria Pickett and Alexis Tye] have been huge leaders on the team and their movement and ability in the midfield has been very good. I'm very proud of this group moving forward. A lot of people thought that because we lost Rose Lavelle and a significant amount of starters that we weren't going to be very good but I actually think this team has a bright future ahead of it."
Junior Midfielder Alexis Tye
"We watched a lot of film on them and I think we pride ourselves on being the underdog and having nothing else to lose and we just went out and went for it. I think we stuck with them in the first half and in the second half. They just got the best of us today."
Sophomore midfielder Victoria Pickett
"Like Alexis said, we watched a lot of film on them and they were very good in their film, and clearly today they were very good as well. Like Alexis also said, being the underdog I think we pride ourselves in that. We came in knowing that they were going to be a good team and we were going to stick to the game plan. I thought we did well for the most part, I think there's a lot of growth for us and that makes Alexis and me very excited for the upcoming years for us."
