For the Wisconsin women’s soccer team, winning this weekend’s games versus Michigan State and Michigan would be the perfect way to honor two people who have helped bring their program to new heights – Taryn Francel and Darcy Riley, this year’s seniors.
While Sunday’s match-up against Michigan is the official senior day, the team hopes to post victories to honor the senior class in both their home games at the McClimon Complex this weekend – starting with their Friday night game versus Michigan State.
Such a sentiment of honoring the seniors was certainly not lost with Coach Paula Wilkins, who hid no emotion when expressing how much the senior class has meant to not only her, but also the program.
“They probably don’t know how much they mean to me,” Wilkins said. “In terms of what they’ve done and what I’ve asked them to do, they really started to shift themselves both on and off the field to change the culture. The little things in practice, the little things on the road and just the nature of the team and how they support each other really comes from the two of them. As I always tell my players, ‘they are the program,’ and Darcy and Taryn really did build the program to the next point. They might not show up in the stats as much, but what they’ve done for the program will always be remembered.”
On the pitch though, the second-place Badgers (7-4-4, 4-1-2) will need to be fully prepared this weekend. In a conference that seemingly has no weak teams, the Spartans and the Wolverines will continue that trend of strong opponents as they both bring talented squads to Madison.
The Badgers’ Friday opponent, Michigan State (9-3-2, 3-1-1), sports not only a fantastic record, but also two of the conferences top three point-getters in junior Laura Heyboer (22 points) and sophomore Olivia Stander (18).
For Coach Wilkins, stopping the talented Michigan State attack will be tough, but it’s certainly a task that her side will be up for if they stick to their defensive principles.
“We’re going to have to be really focused on being aware of where they are and making sure we have good cover with what they do,” Wilkins said. “Because they can be dangerous, and Laura (Heyboer) is a great player and scorer. And Olivia (Standor) is coming on as a young player and being a threat. At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to good defending and good group defending as a team.”
After splitting their two games last weekend with a 1-0 loss at Ohio State and a 3-2 win at Penn State, the Badgers are doing their best to not let the past weekend’s mix of emotions affect this weekend’s games or their outlook on the rest of the season.
As junior captain Laurie Nosbusch pointed out, however, it’s tough not to be encouraged by how the team bounced back with a thrilling victory against Penn State on Sunday. The win was a true display of the team’s character and grit and an especially encouraging sign moving forward.
“It was a great thing to see because I think it speaks a lot to our team character in taking a loss that was very disappointing and meant a lot to our season,” Nosbusch said. “It lightened our hopes of winning the Big Ten trophy but to be able to bounce back and be able to bring fire against such a great team was amazing.”
That same character and intensity is exactly what the Badgers will need this weekend at the McClimon Complex. Not only for their Friday game against Michigan State, but also for their Sunday game against the Big Ten’s other Michigan foe, the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan (7-2-4, 2-1-2) presents another formidable Big Ten opponent as they come into town with a solid attack lead by powerful freshman forward Nkem Ezurine.
The Badgers should be more than excited for Sunday’s game since, although it is not the senior’s final home game, it will be the perfect opportunity to honor them – both on and off the pitch. For Nosbusch, just like many of her fellow teammates, the biggest priority will be doing all they can to extend the seniors’ careers.
“Right now, we’re trying to keep them around as long as possible and we need to keep winning to do so.”