MADISON, Wis. – Most teams hope to start a postseason off strong. The Wisconsin women's soccer team took that to another level on Friday night, knocking off Toledo, 5-0, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at the McClimon Complex.
 
Knotted up in a scoreless tie at halftime, the Badgers exploded offensively in the second half and tallied all five of their goals in a span of just 19 minutes.
 
Wisconsin native Grace Douglas opened up the UW flurry of goals in the 55th minute, beating Toledo's goalkeeper near post for the first goal of her career. The defender wasn't done quite yet, as she headed in another score with assists from fellow defenders Camryn Biegalski and Sammy Kleedtke.
 
Freshman Lauren Rice added onto her already impressive rookie resume in the 61st minute, scoring her fourth goal of the season by finishing off a rebound on a saved shot by fellow freshman Cameron Murtha.
 
Sophomore Jordan McNeese fired up the crowd in the 65th minute, scoring the first goal of her career off of an assist from junior Alexis Tye by beating the keeper to the near post.
 
Rounding out the scoring was sophomore Allie Winterfield, as she sealed the deal with her first goal of the season in the 74th minute.
 
Wisconsin goalkeeper Caitlyn Clem recorded her 10th shutout of the season, which ranks seventh in program history.
 
Notes to Know:
- Wisconsin scored five goals, which ranks as the most in an NCAA tournament game in school history
-  Three Badgers, Grace Douglas, Allie Winterfield and Jordan McNeese, scored the first goals of their careers
- It was the first time this season that two Wisconsin natives scored in a game
- The Badgers advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the 11th time in school history
- The Badgers are now 16-18-2 all-time in the NCAA tournament
- UW recorded season game-highs in points (16), goals (5), assists (6) and shots (24).
 
Performance of the game: In just her sixth game of the season, sophomore Jordan McNeese, a native of DeForest, Wisconsin, scored her first goal and dished out the first assist of her career in a span of 14 minutes.
 
 
Straight from the Pitch:
Head coach Paula Wilkins
 
On two players scoring their first career goals in the NCAA tournament:
"I always tell them, big players do big things in big games, and I think that's what they stand for. I think that it's fantastic and I'm very happy for them."
 
On what adjustments were made going into the second half:
"I thought we could send [the ball] better, keep the ball higher up, and we were able to transition on that and create some corner kicks, and some that made it into the goal. We were talking about being more dynamic going into the final third and they did just that in opening up the game against Toledo."
 
On what to work on going into the next round of the tournament:
"Every game we get better and we will take something out of this game and take that into the next round. We'll play South Carolina, the No. 1 seed and one of the top teams in the country in the next round. They've been a very aggressive attack.  I think we'll have to go back to some of our defending days of being really good with getting numbers behind the ball and to play well."
 
Up Next:
The Badgers head to South Carolina to face No. 1-seeded Gamecocks on Friday, Nov. 17, at Stone Stadium in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.