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 The University of Wisconsin women's soccer team has created a home-field advantage at the McClimon Complex over the past three seasons.
But Sunday afternoon, the Badgers suffered a rare Big Ten Conference setback on their home turf.
Tiffany Cameron scored the lone goal on a shot that clipped in off the post in the 48th minute as Ohio State held off UW 1-0, handing the Badgers their first conference loss of the season and snapping their nine-game Big Ten home unbeaten streak (5-0-4).
UW (7-4-2 overall, 2-1-2 Big Ten) hadn't lost at home in a conference match since a 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota on Oct. 1, 2009. The Badgers also were unbeaten in their past eight Big Ten games dating to a 1-0 loss to the Buckeyes on Oct. 15, 2010.
Cameron's goal came on a sequence following a corner kick.
Liz Sullivan played a short corner to Cameron on the right side, and she promptly dropped it back to Sullivan, who whipped a cross to the back post. OSU's Kristen Niederhaus got up over Badgers defender Joana Bielefeld (Brookfield Central) and headed the ball back across the box, where the onrushing Cameron lashed a right-footed volley that banked in off the near post and past UW senior goalkeeper Michele Dalton.
"It was just a breakdown in focus," Badgers senior defender Meghan Flannery said in a news release. "We need to make sure we are always tight on our marks, and on that one we just lost focus."
UW had several good chances to equalize:
- In the 59th, Buckeyes keeper Katie Baumgardner made a diving stop to deny a header by senior striker Laurie Nosbusch (Mequon Homestead). Junior defender Lindsey Johnson (Mequon Homestead) created the opportunity, beating OSU's Ellyn Gruber around the corner on the right side and sending in a cross that Nosbusch got to ahead of Buckeyes defender Megan Fuller.
- In the 84th, Nosbusch's 8-yard header off a corner kick by sophomore Catie Sessions clanged off the crossbar, and Flannery drove a follow-up shot from 16 yards out just over the bar.
- In the 88th, Baumgardner grabbed Paige Adams' well-struck shot from the top of the box on the left side.
"I think we were a little unlucky and a little unfocused when we did have our chances," Nosbusch said after the Badgers were shut out for the second time in three games. "I know I had a few that I'm going to look back and regret probably because I wasn’t 100 percent focused in taking them." The Badgers have just one game in the next week, as they travel to Lincoln, Neb., for their first game against the newest member of the Big Ten, Nebraska (6-5-1, 3-2-0) and high-scoring forward Morgan Marlborough (16 goals). Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
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