Wisconsin Soccer Central

It wasn't an official match, but Rose Lavelle made quite an impression in her first college soccer game.

The freshman midfielder scored twice and set up another goal in the opening half hour as the University of Wisconsin women's soccer team thumped No. 14 Marquette 5-1 last Thursday night at the McClimon Complex. It was the lone exhibition match for both teams, which will open the regular season on Friday. 

Junior striker Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East), sophomore midfielder McKenna Meuer (Madison Memorial) and sophomore defender Brianna Stelzer also scored for the Badgers, while junior Mady Vicker (Whitefish Bay) had the lone goal for the Golden Eagles.

Walls put UW ahead in the fifth minute, Meuer finished off a set piece from Lavelle in the 18th, Lavelle converted a header in the 20th and the freshman – a Cincinnati native who came to Madison from a U.S. Under-20 national team camp in Carson, Calif. – made it 4-0 when she scored off a feed from Walls in the 31st.

"Like I told the players, this is only one game and a game that doesn't count at that," Badgers coach Paula Wilkins said in a news release. "As easy as it to get excited about this, we still have a lot of things to work on. But this is a great starting point for a very young team."

• Sydney Born got UW-Green Bay on the board in the 52nd and fellow sophomore Justy Linton equalized in the 83rd, but Minnesota's Taylor Wodnick scored in the 88th as the Golden Gophers tipped the Phoenix 3-2 on Friday in St. Paul, Minn. The Gophers took the lead in the second minute and made it 2-0 just 16 minutes into the match.
• Freshman Maria Stephans (Hartford) scored the lone goal for UW-Milwaukee as the Panthers lost to Iowa 4-1 on Saturday in Iowa City. Amy Kauffung (Hartland Arrowhead) started the scoring sequence for UWM on the right flank, finding fellow junior Kelly Lewers, who beat a defender and crossed the ball in for Stephans to one-touch into the goal in the 53rd. Emily Scott, who transferred to Iowa after playing her first two seasons with the Panthers, scored the Hawkeyes' fourth goal 17 seconds into the second half.

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Sophomore C. Nortey helped set up freshman Coco Navarro's opener in the 67th and scored a goal of his own 9 minutes later to lead No. 12 Marquette past Wright State 2-0 in an exhibition opener Saturday night at Valley Fields.

Junior Charlie Lyon and freshmen Brady Walsh, Mac Wheeler (Kettle Moraine) and Kyle Gress combined on the clean sheet in the 110-minute match for the Golden Eagles, who started three freshmen: Defender Jake Taylor (Whitefish Bay), midfielder Alex McBride (Milwaukee Marquette) and forward Nick Parianos.

Nortey, who had a stellar freshman season in 2011 but redshirted last season as he recovered from knee surgery, hooked up with freshman Louis Bennett II (Shorewood) to help create Navarro's opener. Nortey found Bennett at the far post, and the coach's son headed it back across the goal for Navarro to nod home. The lead doubled in the 76th when Nortey finished off a cross from junior midfielder Sebastian Jansson.

Marquette concludes its exhibition season against top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Indiana on Thursday night in Fort Wayne, Ind., as part of the National Soccer Festival. Wright State is coached by Bryan Davis (Milwaukee/UW) and the Raiders' starting goalkeeper last season was Jacob Bye (Whitnall).

• Joe Sales scored off a corner kick in the 39th and Lewis Ellis doubled the lead in the 54th as Southern Illinois-Edwardsville blanked UW-Milwaukee 2-0 in front of an impressive crowd of 2,571 on Friday night in Illinois. The Panthers started six newcomers, including freshman goalkeeper Liam Anderson from New Zealand. UWM was outshot 8-6 and had four of the game's five corner kicks, but didn't put a shot on goal. The Panthers have two more exhibitions, both against NCAA Division II teams at Engelmann Stadium – they'll face Lewis (Ill.) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday before closing out the preseason against UW-Parkside at 7 p.m. Sunday.
• Senior Chris Prince gave UW the lead 43 seconds before halftime, but host Illinois-Chicago scored twice in a 10-minute span in the final half hour to beat the Badgers 2-1 on Monday night. Freshman Casey Beyers started and played 65 minutes in goal for UW, stopping both shots he faced before being relieved by senior Max Jentsch (Hartland Arrowhead). Each team had a player sent off, as Gabriel Martinez Jr. was issued a red card for the Flames in the 55th minute and UW sophomore Drew Conner got his marching orders following his second yellow card of the night in the 61st. The Badgers close their exhibition season at 5 p.m. Saturday against UW-Green Bay at the McClimon Complex – the Phoenix also will host Division III St. Thomas (Minn.) at 3 p.m. Wednesday.