Nov. 1, 2015
Madison, Wis.
McClimon Soccer Complex
Ohio State 2 (11-5-3, 5-4-2 B1G), Wisconsin 1 (11-6-3, 8-2-1 B1G)
Attendance: 478
MADISON, Wis. – The No. 7 seed Ohio State women’s soccer team topped No. 2 seed Wisconsin, 2-1, in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Sunday afternoon at McClimon Soccer Complex. With the win, the Buckeyes, now 11-5-3 on the year, advance to the Big Ten semifinals and will take on No. 3 seed Rutgers Friday.
“Wisconsin is an excellent team,” Lori Walker, Ohio State head coach, said. “We were able to take advantage of stretching them out in the first and the two-goal lead set us up for being able to play more conservatively in the second half. I thought Wisconsin did a great job putting pressure on us and making it difficult for us to get out of our own end. I’m very proud of our resiliency and willingness to battle because Wisconsin threw everything at us.”
Wisconsin had the first quality chance in the first half when Rose Lavelle struck a volley from 18 yards off a throw-in but it sailed over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Lavelle found Marisa Kresge with a through ball but Ohio State goalkeeper Devon Kerr ranged to her right to make the diving save on the strike from 15 yards as the match remained scoreless early.
After threatening the next 10 minutes, Ohio State got on the board for the 1-0 advantage in the 30th minute when Michela Paradiso was taken down in the box after a streaking run down the left wing before she finished the penalty kick for her sixth goal of the season.
In the 34th minute, Nicole Miyashiro tracked down a long ball from Lindsay Agnew and played a perfect cross from the right wing toward the center of the box where it was headed home by Sammy Edwards past Wisconsin goalkeeper Caitlyn Clem to make it a 2-0 game.
Ohio State almost made it 3-0 a minute later when Nichelle Prince beat a pair of Wisconsin defenders on the right wing and played a low strike that narrowly missed the far post as the Buckeyes took the two-goal lead into the break.
Both teams tallied eight shots over the first 45 minutes with Wisconsin holding a 6-4 lead in shots on goal.
Wisconsin tried to cut the lead in half less than a minute after the break but Kerr again made a diving save on a shot by Kresge to keep the Badgers off the board.
In the 64th minute, Nikki Greenhalgh had a chance for the Badgers off a corner but her volley from six yards drilled the crossbar and was cleared away as Ohio State held on to the 2-0 lead.
Greenhalgh then cut the Buckeye lead in half in the 71st minute when she finished from inside the six-yard box off a loose ball from a corner to make it a 2-1 game.
In the 85th minute, Lavelle had a header off a cross hit the right post and her follow-up from inside the six-yard box went high as the Buckeyes held on to the one-goal lead.
Wisconsin had a chance with less than 20 seconds remaining when Kresge found Brianna Stelzer with a far-post corner but Stelzer’s header missed wide left as the Buckeyes advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
For the game, Wisconsin held a 22-10 lead in shots, including 10-4 on goal. Kerr was excellent in goal, making nine saves to improve her record to 5-0-1 in her freshman campaign.
