The Wisconsin men’s soccer team is still looking to pick up their first win of the season. The Badgers returned from a West Coast road trip this past weekend losing to Santa Clara 2-1 in overtime and 3-2 to UC Davis.
After starting the season 0-0-4 , the Badgers now travel to New Jersey to take on Rutgers to start their Big Ten campaign, and hopefully pick up that elusive first win of the season.
Last season, the teams met twice — once in Madison, and the other during the Big Ten Tournament. Rutgers won the first meeting in overtime, 3-2, as well as the tournament matchup, 5-2.
The Scarlet Knights (2-1-0) are coming off a 1-1 weekend at the New York Central Classic, claiming their second win of the season against Colgate, but suffered a setback against Syracuse.
The return of freshman defender Sam Brotherton to the starting 11, who was away on international duty, should help shore up the back line of defense, one that shelled out five goals over two games in California.
This will be the Badgers’ first time playing at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, New Jersey, as last year was Rutgers’ first year in the Big Ten. Kickoff is Friday at 6 p.m.
Wisconsin’s key to victory: Play a complete 90 minutes
The Badgers have had trouble putting together a solid 90 minutes in any of their four games thus far.
There have been bright spots for Wisconsin, most notably in their game against UC-Davis in which they outscored the Aggies 2-0 in the second half. They also did well to hold Butler and Xavier scoreless through the first half of each game, but lost concentration in the second half.
If the Badgers can keep that mental sharpness for the whole game, both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, expect them to have a very good chance of coming back to Wisconsin with their first win of the 2015 season.
Rutgers player to watch: Sophomore forward Jason Wright
Wright, who was named the Big Ten co-offensive player of the week for the week ending Aug. 30, has already scored two goals for the Scarlet Knights and recorded his first assist in Rutgers’ 2-1 victory against Colgate. The Badgers’ center pairing of Brotherton and Matej Radonic will need to keep Wright in check in order to help the Badgers keep their first clean sheet of the season.
