SPORTS
UW attempts rebound against OSU
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Also by Eric Schmoldt:
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by Eric Schmoldt
Friday, September 30, 2005
The UW men's soccer team's scoring saga will continue Sunday as the Badgers open the Big Ten season at home against Ohio State.
The question all year — and more specifically on their latest three-game losing streak — has been one of finding a solid, consistent scorer to win games.
The Badgers have found the back of the net 10 times in nine games this season, but have posted just two goals in their last four games. Wisconsin possesses no player with more than two goals on the year, and the scoring issue was never more apparent than in Wednesday's game with Northern Illinois — a 1-0 UW loss.
"We just had to finish our chances," sophomore midfielder Erik Ortega said. "We had some chances — we could've won that game 3-1."
Instead, they ended up on the losing end of a shutout for the second-straight game.
While a three-game skid can get a team down, and it looked as if that was the case Wednesday night, the Badgers are going to need to keep their head up and turn things around for the start of the Big Ten season.
"Maybe guys were struggling off the weekend … but that's no excuse. Maybe it was a confidence issue," Ortega said. "We just have to put this behind us and concentrate on practice and training and focus on Sunday."
The Buckeyes are led by sophomore forward Xavier Balc, who has notched four goals in seven games thus far. OSU has also received steady play from goalkeeper Ray Burse. The senior has allowed just six goals in eight games this season and already has posted three shutouts.
But Ohio State may also be looking to turn things around. The Buckeyes started off the season hot, but are also in the midst of a three-game winless streak, going 0-2-1 over that span. They will, however, get a chance to end their skid when they play at Akron Friday.
Burse will face a formidable foe in UW goalkeeper Jake Settle on the other end of the field. The junior battled back from a concussion last weekend in Seattle to allow just one goal — which deflected off of his own teammate — in Wednesday's game.
"He's had a good start to this season. He's done really, really well," UW head coach Jeff Rohrman said. "We're going to need Jake to come up big, especially Sunday. Ohio State is a very good team and they're going to test him."
Settle has a .820 save percentage and one shutout in eight contests this year.
But the question, undoubtedly, will be who gets the job done on the offensive attack if the Badgers want to emerge victorious.
"I just think we have to get better in the attacking third, and we'll start scoring some goals," Rohrman said.
It is often said that, for a team to win, it just needs to come out with the right mentality. The Badgers did not have that mentality Wednesday, and will look for some leadership to spark the team into coming out with the right attitude.
"I definitely need to step up the leadership role," team captain Aaron Hohlbein said. "I guess I haven't been doing as good a job as I should be. I've just got to talk to everybody and make sure they get focused and realize that Sunday is a must-win game."
If Hohlbein can ensure that his team takes on the same mindset, the team will give itself an opportunity to start the conference season off on the right foot.
"I think we rest, we rehab, we re-energize, and we kind of refocus a little bit and come out Friday and Saturday training with the right mentality and right attitude and come in Sunday knowing we have to win that game."
