Junior Ashley Martinez put the final penalty kick past Rutgers goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer after 110 minutes of scoreless soccer to give the Wisconsin Badgers a 4-1 penalty kick victory at the end of a 0-0 draw.
Going into their game with Wisconsin, the No. 16 Badgers had held the lead in the series all time, but the Scarlet Knights had won the most recent contest in 2022.
On a cold day at the McClimon Complex in Madison, Wis., the Knights clearly came out in a defensive mindset, as offense has been difficult to come by this season, especially with a number of key players still absent due to injury.
Rutgers had posted nine shutouts this season in front of the outstanding play of their young goaltender, so it would seem likely that the game might well come down to the play of Bodmer, the redshirt freshman who was unanimously voted to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. That trend proved true in the first half, as Wisconsin attempted 10 shots, forcing Bodmer to make saves on three of them.
The Badgers played the majority of the first half in the Rutgers end of the pitch, save for a few opportunities in the RU offensive end of field. However, on the few occasions that the Knights threatened the Wisconsin net, goaltender Erin McKinney was equal to the task.
Despite being outplayed through the first period, Rutgers went to the locker room deadlocked with Wisconsin, as the match was level at 0-0.
But the second half started out in much the same way as the first period, with Wisconsin spending a good amount of time in the attacking third of the pitch, while Rutgers got scattered chances in the Badgers’ end of the field.
As the clock continued to wind down, the action became more frantic, with chances opening up, as the play went end-to-end while scattered snow flurries began to fall.
With less than two minutes to play, it was once again the Rutgers defense that stepped up, as Sara Brocious made a game-saving play to prevent a goal when the ball slipped past Bodmer.
The defense came up big again a second time, on a Wisconsin chance with less than 30 seconds left to play.
At the end of regulation, despite the fact that Wisconsin had taken 29 shots, the game still stood tied, 0-0. Remarkably, through the first overtime period not one shot was taken, so the teams went to a second overtime session in a scoreless game.
Once again, the second overtime expired without a goal, and the 894 spectators who braved the weather would see a match that would be decided by penalty kicks after a grueling 110 minutes of shutout soccer.
However, in the penalty kick round, the Badgers took over, as each of their first three shots went past Bodmer, while McKinney was able to stop two efforts by Rutgers. While senior forward Allison Lowrey netted one for the Knights, Martinez was able to score the winning goal, enabling Wisconsin to survive and move on to face Nebraska in the semifinals.
For Rutgers, it was a bitter pill to swallow, as the Knights’ season now hangs in limbo, hoping for a long-shot at-large bid to join the NCAA Tournament. Selection Monday is November 6, and it is at that time that the Scarlet Knights will learn their fate.
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