The Wisconsin women’s soccer team knocked off the Minnesota Gophers 2-0 in the opening round of the Big Ten women’s soccer tournament in Minneapolis on Sunday.
Freshman Maia Cella broke open the scoring for Wisconsin in the 32nd minute on a corner kick from freshman Sammy Kleedtke. Cella was able to get her head on the ball and knock it into the net for her first career goal.
In the 66th minute it was All Big Ten second-team recipient Dani Rhodes finding the back of the net and extending the Wisconsin lead to two.
Challenging the ball, Gophers’ keeper Kailee Sharp’s goal kick deflected off of Rhodes and rolled back into the Minnesota net. The goal was Rhodes’ 11th of the season.
Wisconsin (11-5-3 overall, 7-4-1 Big Ten) outshot Minnesota (13-4-2, 7-3-2) 15-6 in the match and 6-0 in shots on goal.
Wisconsin entered the tournament as the sixth seed. Minnesota was the third seed.
The Badgers will face second seeded Northwestern in Friday’s semifinals at 2:30 at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.