The UW men’s soccer team will be in Milwaukee this weekend to face the Marquette University Golden Eagles Saturday, closing out Badgers’ regular season. The Badgers, currently 9-8-0 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten, appear to be an even match-up for the Golden Eagles, who hold a 9-7-1 overall record and a 7-2-1 record in their league, Conference USA.
The game this weekend is the last tune-up for the Badgers before they head off to University Park, Penn. for the Big Ten tournament at Penn State University. After a midseason skid in which the Badgers lost four straight games in a week-and-a-half span, the team has rebounded and is riding high right now, going into this weekend on a two-game win streak.
While the main goal for the Badgers this weekend is to win and maintain momentum heading into the Big Ten tournament, the game also stands as their third and last chance to get a win against an intrastate opponent. Their first match, against UW-Green Bay early in the season, ended with a 1-0 overtime loss. Their second match, against UW-Milwaukee, a top-10 nationally ranked opponent, also ended in a disappointing 1-0 overtime loss.
The Badgers’ good form as of late has been due to a tightening of the screws on defense and opportunities created for the forwards.
“Our guys have been playing well,” said first-year Badger head coach Jeff Rohrman. “We almost always put in a good 90 minutes of hard play and high intensity, and when we can get the ball to our forwards and give them opportunities to score goals then we usually do pretty well for ourselves.”
The Badgers’ front line from last year of Dominic DaPra and Aaron Lauber was coined the “two-headed monster” by then-Badger coach Kalekani Banda, this year the front line has turned into a three-headed beast. Sophomore Nick Van Sicklen leads the team with seven goals. Freshman Phil Doeh trails Van Sicklen with six goals while senior co-captain Valentine Anozie follows with four goals.
“Our forwards are dangerous,” said Rohrman. “Each of them brings something unique to the attack, but they are all fast and skilled and able to score goals.”
Many of the Badgers are looking at the game against the Golden Eagles as a chance for revenge. Last year the Badgers outplayed Marquette at home, but the game ended up in a 2-2 tie after two overtimes.
“We should have beaten them (Marquette) last year,” said sophomore defender Ryan Nord. “This weekend is our chance to get that win”.
The team seems to be doing a good job of not looking too far down the road and over looking the Golden Eagles as the Big Ten tournament looms ahead.
“We take things one game at a time,” said Rohrman. “There have been too many stories in sports of teams overlooking one opponent for another game in the future and then they lose that they game. So we know what our job is this weekend.”
The Badgers look poised for a good showing this weekend, they have been playing well and with emotion. The defense is coming off of a shutout victory, the midfield has been strong on both ends, and the offense has regained their form. Most importantly, they are focused on this weekend and not the next.
