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 Down two goals in miserable conditions Thursday night at the McClimon Complex, the University of Wisconsin women's soccer team fought back to remain unbeaten in Big Ten Conference play.
Juniors Lindsey Johnson (Mequon Homestead) and Alev Kelter scored in a 3-minute span in the second half as the Badgers earned a 2-2 draw with Minnesota on a wet, cold night that featured wind gusts of nearly 30 mph.
"The effort for a team to go against the wind and the rain, being two goals down to come back, you have to give our team some credit," UW coach Paula Wilkins said in a news release. "We talked about in the group that if they played like they did for the 20 minutes in the second half, they would be very good."
The Badgers (7-3-2 overall, 2-0-2 Big Ten) extended their unbeaten streak to four but fell behind Penn State (10-3-0, 3-1-0) in the Big Ten race, just ahead of Ohio State (7-4-1, 2-1-1) – the Buckeyes visit McClimon on Sunday afternoon as part of the annual PAC the MAC doubleheader.
Somewhat against the run of play, the Golden Gophers (4-6-2, 1-1-2) opened the scoring in the in the 23rd minute.
Freshman forward Taylor Uhl got past a defender to the top of the box and sent a through ball to junior forward Nicole Baier, who got a shot off as she slipped to the ground in the rain. Badgers senior goalkeeper Michele Dalton made the save, but Bauer scrambled back to her feet and sent the rebound past Dalton.
Then in the 47th, Uhl handled things herself, ripping a shot from the top of the box past Dalton to the far post for her team-best eighth goal of the season.
UW got on the board through a set piece in the 59th. Sophomore Catie Sessions served a corner kick into the box and Johnson headed it past Minnesota junior keeper Cat Parkhill, marking the first collegiate goal for the defender.
Sixty-seven seconds later, Kelter let loose with a 25-yard shot that deflected off Gophers defender Marissa Price and rolled past Parkhill for her third goal of the season.
While both keepers were busy – Dalton made nine saves and Parkhill had eight – Minnesota had one great chance to take the lead in regulation and another to win it in the second overtime. But Dalton made a point-blank stop on Baier's shot in the 69th and Gophers sophomore forward Steph Brandt sent her shot on a breakaway over the crossbar in the 108th as the teams played to the first tie in the teams' "Border Battle" series – UW leads 11-10-1.
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