With Barry and the boys headed to Arizona for the weekend, Camp Randall will be quiet this Saturday. But don’t put down that beer bong and face paint quite yet.
Badger fans in need of their UW sports fix need look no farther than the McClimon Soccer Complex, where the undefeated UW women’s soccer team (6-0) is set to take on No. 5-ranked Penn State (5-1) under the lights Friday. I know a women’s soccer game is probably not your idea of a good time on a Friday night, but this is truly a marquee matchup.
The Badgers open the Big Ten season against the premier team in the conference in a pivotal early season match. The last time the two teams met at McClimon, Wisconsin shocked top-seeded Penn State with a victory in penalty kicks in the first round of the 2003 Big Ten tournament. This season, the Badgers may have the momentum to deal the conference juggernaut another stunning blow.
“I think that Penn State and Illinois are the top two teams right now, and we get Penn State at home the first Big Ten match,” head coach Dean Duerst said. “But our kids really came off of some momentum from last year’s defeat of them here at home. That was a huge game for just our players. And for them to believe that we can beat anybody in the country, any given day in this sport, women’s soccer, it just can happen.”
After running the table in six non-conference matches, the Badgers are off to their best start in 13 years. The last time a UW women’s soccer team opened the season with six straight wins was in 1991, when the Badgers sprinted to a 7-0 start under head coach Greg Ryan. That season, Wisconsin finished 17-3 and advanced to the NCAA championship game, where they lost 3-1 to perennial powerhouse North Carolina.
In ten years at the helm, Duerst has won two Big Ten titles and seen his team ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation. With all that success, the Badgers have never come out this strong in the Duerst era.
“This is our best start in a long time, and it’s just an indication that we’ve been building, I think, a couple of very solid recruiting classes in a row, and we have the leadership in this group right now.” Duerst said.
Wisconsin has displayed an offensive explosion this season, led by resilient striker Amy Vermeulen. The Badgers lead the Big Ten in nearly every offensive category, outscoring opponents 22-7 on the year. Wisconsin leads the conference in goals (3.67 per game), assists (3.83 per game) and points (11.17 per game) in 2004. UW is currently second in scoring margin, besting opponents by an average of 2.5 goals per game. Not bad for a team that finished 6th in the Big Ten in scoring (1.52 goals per game) in 2003.
After missing all of last season with an injury, Vermeulen has led the Badgers’ offensive resurgence this season. The talented junior leads the Big Ten in goals (8) and points (19), averaging more than one goal per game. In six games, Vermeulen has already totaled as many points as last season’s UW points leader, striker Katy Lindenmuth, recorded in 21 games last year.
Vermeulen has scored five goals in the Badgers’ past two games and the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week is showing no signs of letting up. It is scary to think what a 1-2 punch of Vermeulen and last season’s leading goal scorer Jenny Kundert could have accomplished.
Though Kundert is gone, Lindenmuth joins Vermeulen in the potent UW attack. Lindenmuth and Vermeulen have exhibited a more than capable combination in their own right, as Lindenmuth currently holds the Big Ten lead in assists (5). With the Big Ten’s leading scorer and the conference’s assist leader playing side by side, it’s no wonder that the Badgers are off to such a torrid start.
“We’re getting the production,” Duerst said. “That’s what you need to make NCAA tournaments.
Wisconsin currently sits atop the conference standings as one of just two undefeated Big Ten programs. After finishing no higher than fifth in the conference over the past three seasons, the Badgers have raised some eyebrows this year. The program has burst onto the national scene, moving to No. 18 in the most recent Adidas/NSCAA national rankings.
Following a disappointing 2003 campaign, in which the Badgers finished 10-9-2 (4-6 in Big Ten play) and failed to reach the NCAA tournament, Duerst seems to have found all the right pieces in 2004.
Building around veterans Molly Meuer, Jessica Ring, Lindenmuth and Marla Froelich, Duerst added a strong freshman class that features starting goalkeeper Lynn Murray, talented striker Taylor Walsh, and scrappy defender Katy Meuer, who has brought the same intensity and work ethic that made her sister Molly into an All-Big Ten quality player.
With Meuer anchoring the center of the field defensively, sophomore Kara Kabellis, who is arguably the most talented player on the squad, patrolling the center at midfield, and Vermeulen dominating the center on the attack, Duerst has built his team from the inside out.
At every level, the Badgers have controlled the center of the field this season. As a result, Wisconsin is well on its way to a return to the glory days of the late ’80s and early ’90s, when the Badgers were nationally ranked in 12 of 13 seasons from 1984 to 1996.
The football team may be dueling in the desert this weekend, but there will be plenty of futbol excitement right here in Madison. And with only 639 spectators in attendance for Wisconsin’s latest triumph over Boston College, it won’t be hard to find a seat as Duerst’s squad looks to continue its historic run.
