MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women's soccer team heads into the homestretch of the regular season with two games this weekend. UW hosts Northwestern on Thursday in a 6 p.m. CT game at the McClimon Soccer Complex that can be seen live on BTN before heading to Lincoln, Nebraska for a 1 p.m. CT game on Sunday against Nebraska.
Admission is free for the Badgers' home game on Thursday night while fans can watch Sunday's game on B1G+.
1. LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers are coming off of a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Illinois last Friday night. After falling down 1-0,
Cammie Murtha scored her first goal of the year late in the first half to level the game at 1-1.
Jordyn Bloomer made six saves in the tie.
2. TRIO IN THE TDS RANKINGS: Three Badgers checked in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-100 Midseason rankings.
Jordyn Bloomer and
Maia Cella are ranked No. 34 and No. 38, respectively, in the national rankings. Freshman
Aidan McConnell is ranked No. 27 in the TDS Women's Freshmen Top 100 rankings as the defender has started every single game during her rookie season with the Badgers.
3. IN THE RPI: The Badgers are ranked No. 24 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings that were released on Monday morning. UW has faced three teams in the top-25, drawing Michigan (No. 15) 0-0, beating Providence 3-2 in OT (No. 19) and falling to Purdue (No. 20) 2-1. The Badgers have one match coming up against a top-50 RPI team in No. 48 Ohio State, next Wednesday, at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
4. FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATICS: The Badgers have found themselves in seven overtime games this year and have a 2-1-4 record in extra-time matches. Six of UW's extra-time matches have taken place in the last 10 games while two of the matches that didn't go into overtime were decided by goals scored in the final 10 minutes of the contest.
5. AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: UW leads the all-time series with Northwestern 19-8-3 and have a four-game unbeaten run against the Wildcats. Last season UW went 1-0-1 against NU, earning a 1-0 win in Evanston thanks to an
Ali Fine goal before drawing Northwestern, 1-1, in the Big Ten tournament in Madison. The Badgers ultimately advanced to the Big Ten semifinals after downing the Wildcats, 4-2, in a penalty-kick shootout.
UW also leads the all-time series with Nebraska 5-4-2 and are unbeaten in their last six games with the Cornhuskers. Last season the two teams battled to a 0-0 draw in Lincoln.
