Penn State women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins said that she wouldn't dwell on last year's loss in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, but that she hoped it would motivate her team.

Unfortunately, history has a way of repeating itself.

For the second straight season, the No. 7 Nittany Lions (17-3-2) entered the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed and were upset in the first round. This year's culprit was host school Wisconsin (11-8-1), which took the Lions to penalty kicks before pulling out an improbable victory thanks to a 4-3 edge in the shootout.

After no scoring through regulation and two overtime periods, the Badgers converted all four of their penalty kick attempts and earned the win after Penn State senior defender Leigh Hamilton's try caromed off of the goalpost.

The Lions and Badgers traded goals in the first three rounds of the shootout as Tiffany Weimer, Joanna Lohman and Carmelina Moscato all converted for Penn State. Tied at three, however, the Badgers' freshman goalkeeper Stefani Szczechowski blocked Stephanie Smith's attempt. Wisconsin immediately countered with a goal by Jessica Ring and sealed its' biggest win of the season when Hamilton's shot hit the post.

Though the Lions had the statistical edge, the game belonged to Szczechowski. The freshman came up with nine saves, including three in the overtime periods. Szczechowski stopped Heidi Drummond, Sarah Dwyer and Lohman, the women's soccer Big Ten Athlete of the Year. The stop on Smith in the shootout rounded out the most impressive performance of her young career.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, Penn State sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Brown turned in her best game of the year, recording a season best six saves and her ninth regulation shutout of the year.

The loss was a bit of déjà vu for the Lions, who entered the game with the Badgers in a similar situation to last year's tournament.

In 2002, the Lions had scored a convincing 4-0 victory over Illinois in the regular season, only to drop their first round Big Ten game to the Fighting Illini, 4-3. This year, Penn State dominated the Badgers earlier in the year with a 5-0 win at Jeffrey Field, only to lose to them in the tournament.

The Lions dominated the first half, leading in every statistic but the score. Moscato nearly broke the scoreless tie in the 42nd minute, but her shot hit the crossbar and Lohman's rebound try sailed over the net.