Heads will roll this Friday night as Michigan (7-1-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) comes to Madison to try and continue the Wolverines hot start.
The Badgers (3-4-2, 0-1-1) will rely on their defense anchored by the team’s leader in career saves, senior goalie Kelly Conway. Conway must work up to her potential to consistently deny the high scoring Wolverine offense.
The Badgers started the season with the same record they had at this point last year before they lost to the Wolverines in overtime, thus beginning their nose dive which left them with a 5-11-3 overall record at the end of the season.
“It’s very similar to last year’s team; I think we had so much talent last year, and we have so much talent this year,” Conway said.
“As a captain and as seniors, we can only try to pick people up as much as possible. It’s an individual attitude that people have to find within themselves. We’ve been trying to focus on that, and we’ve been talking to everyone on the team, putting things on an individual basis so people can find it within themselves, [what it is they need] to pick it up.”
Michigan comes into Madison ranked No.14 in the nation. The team is looking to use its high-octane scoring offense to go through Wisconsin like they did Iowa and Illinois last weekend. The Wolverines outscored the two teams by a total of 6-2 and are looking to their star senior forward, Abby Crumpton, to continue this goal-scoring frenzy.
Last week, Crumpton was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the week for her two goals and two assists in the team’s last two outings.
“The biggest thing [in order to win] is to let our players just play with enthusiasm, and let them go out there and show what they’re made of,” head coach Dean Duerst said,
“We have to attack and be thinking about attacking and scoring. Michigan is scoring so we’re gonna have to deny them opportunities.”
All of Michigan’s wins this season have come in games where they score 2 or more goals. Their one loss came at the hands of the unranked Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs’ goalie made 6 saves and found a way to blanket Michigan’s high scoring forwards to move on for a 1-0 shutout. This loss left the Wolverines dumbfounded and taking a long quiet ride back to Ann Arbor.
This trend works in favor of the Badgers who rely on their defense to help them get in a better position to win close games.
Against a Michigan team that is not used to playing close defensive minded games, the Badgers have a great opportunity of coming out with a major upset.
With an opportunity for an upset of this magnitude the team has remained extremely upbeat and focused on the task ahead.
To pull off such a huge upset early in the season could provide the Badgers with enough momentum to make some serious noise in the Big Ten.
Sunday, UW will welcome Michigan State (6-1, 2-0) to Madison. The Spartans, with some relatively young players playing big roles, have dominated opponents thus far.
Freshman forward Emma Harris leads the team in total points with four goals and three assists, while another freshman, midfielder Erin Konheim, leads the team in assists with four.
Spartan goalkeeper Stacy Heller, a junior, has made headlines lately after being named Big Ten Player of the Week. Heller has only allowed one goal to sneak past her this season.
Not only will UW have its work cut out against Michigan, the team must also bring its “A” game against Michigan State.
