Oct. 27, 2006

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. -- Kelsey Hans (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville) took seven shots, but the Wildcats fell to Wisconsin Friday night to close the regular season, 5-0. As the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament the 'Cats will face No. 1 Penn State on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

With the loss Northwestern ends the regular season 8-9-2, 4-5-1 in the Big Ten. The Badgers improve to 7-8-3 overall, 4-5-1 in the Big Ten.

In cold weather and a dark sky the 'Cats came out strong against the Badgers, forcing an early corner kick. Wisconsin, needing a win to reach the Big Ten Tournament, countered with pressure, sailing a shot just above the Wildcat crossbar. The Badgers got on the board first in the 12th minute on a breakaway goal by Allison Preiss.

Wisconsin went up 2-0 in the 21st minute when Elise Weber got in behind the Wildcat defense and put the ball over the head of goalkeeper Lauren Johnston (Denver, Colo./Denver East) and into the net. Taylor Walsh added a tally in the 25th minute to give Wisconsin a 3-0 lead.

The 'Cats lost the shot battle 5-2 in the first half and went into the break trailing 3-0.

Northwestern and Wisconsin played even soccer for 35 minutes in the second half, but the Badgers added two tallies in the final 10 minutes to take a commanding 5-0 lead.

The Wildcats took 11 shots to nine for Wisconsin and they won the corner kick battle, 5-3.

The 'Cats return to action at 4:30 p.m. Thu., Nov. 2 against Penn State at the Big Ten Tournment.