After opening the season at the Cal Invite, the Wisconsin women’s soccer team is preparing itself for a busy weekend of competition. UW will travel to Northern Illinois to take on the Huskies Friday, and then return to Madison for its first home game of the season, a Sunday matchup with Kansas.
The Badgers started their season last Friday against No. 16 California, playing the host team tough, but eventually falling 2-1. Freshman Allison Preiss’ first collegiate goal put the Badgers up 1-0 but it would be the only lead of the day for UW. The Badgers held the lead into the second half but succumbed to the Bears late in the game.
“Cal is a very good team,” head coach Dean Duerst said. “They got the results and we didn’t on that day. I think our team played well. I’m really proud of our effort. We played like warriors.”
UW evened up its season record at 1-1 Sunday with a 3-1 victory over St. Mary’s. Senior co-captain Jenny Kundert had two assists, while sophomore Katy Lindenmuth, junior Marla Froelich and junior Sarah Capel all tallied goals in the win.
“I think it’s a great beginning in what we were able to learn while playing against quality teams,” Duerst said. “We felt we’ve played two quality opponents. We can learn a lot from this weekend.”
The trip this weekend to DeKalb, Illinois will mark the home opener for the Huskies who have lost both of their matches this season. NIU dropped two games last weekend, losing to Air Force 4-2 and to Colorado College 3-0. Tiffany Anderson, who scored in the Air Force loss, is the team’s leading scorer amongst returning players. The Huskies also return second-team All-MAC selection Katie Klass, as well as sophomore defender Kerry Walker. Walker was forced to sit out most of the 2002 season after taking a medical redshirt. In the season opener, she notched her first goal of the season on a penalty kick.
In the Badgers’ second game of the weekend they will take on undefeated Kansas (2-0), who will test the Badgers in their home opener. The Jayhawks have registered a 4-1 victory over Northwestern and a 2-0 blanking of Evansville.
Eight starters return from last year’s squad, among them is sophomore sensation Caroline Smith. Smith had a hat trick to go along with an assist in the game against Northwestern, then came back to score both KU goals against Evansville. For her efforts she was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. Sophomore Jessica Smith scored the only other goal of the season.
The Badgers will be looking to carry the momentum of a two-game winning streak into their home opener against Kansas, and a victory in that matchup would be a milestone victory for head coach Dean Duerst. A pair of wins for UW this weekend would move Duerst into a tie with Greg Ryan as the all-time winningest coach in school history. Entering his tenth year on the sidelines, Duerst has a 106-73-23 record, and has coached six NCAA tournament teams.
