Wisconsin Soccer Central

On Friday night, the University of Wisconsin women's soccer team was three minutes away from being in second place in the Big Ten Conference.

By Sunday night, the Badgers were in a three-way tie for fourth and just one point above seventh – the final qualifying spot for the conference tournament.

UW dropped a 1-0 decision to Illinois on Sunday afternoon in Champaign, Ill., as the combination of sophomore Megan Pawloski's 25th-minute goal and junior goalkeeper Steph Panozzo's five saves led to the Fighting Illini's fourth straight victory by that scoreline. (Video highlights below)

"I was disappointed with the way we started – and most of the game," Badgers coach Paula Wilkins said in a news release. "We were heavy-legged, chasing and not doing a very good job of dictating. I think by them controlling the midfield the way that they did – and they did it well – we were just chasing the ball and we didn't have the legs to do that.

"I think it was part of the product from going into double overtime on Friday night (in a 1-1 tie with Northwestern). I don't think we made very good decisions when we did win the ball. Our movement off the ball when we did win it was poor, because I don't think we were physically able to keep up with the pace of the game."

Jackie Guerra started the sequence that led to the lone goal for second-place Illinois (11-4-1 overall, 5-2-1 Big Ten), winning a ball near midfield and getting it over to standout Vanessa DiBernardo. She dribbled up field and played a through ball for Shayla Mutz streaking down the right side. Mutz pulled UW senior goalkeeper Michele Dalton off her line and squared the ball across the box, and Pawloski finished into the top of the net as she slid to the ground.

The Badgers (8-5-3, 3-2-3) were outshot 14-8 on the day, but put five of their shots on frame compared to four for the Illini. Panozzo's best stop likely came on a drive from the top of the box by junior defender Lindsey Johnson (Mequon Homestead) in the 79th.

"At the end, I thought we did a better job to push," said Wilkins, whose team was shut out for the third time in the past six games. "That’s a positive and a negative. People were stepping up and putting greater pressure on the ball and winning balls earlier, but you wish that it would've happened earlier in the game."

UW plays its final three matches of the regular season at home at the McClimon Complex: The Badgers face Purdue (6-9-2, 3-4-1) on Friday night and Indiana (6-9-1, 2-6-0) next Sunday afternoon before closing against Iowa (11-3-2, 3-3-2) on Oct. 29.

"We talked about getting back to what we do well," Wilkins said of the remaining games. "Players need to play with more urgency, but also more confidence. I think that they need to do what they did at the beginning of the year; we need to find that. Getting back to the basics is going to be important for us."