The Wisconsin women’s soccer team (9-4-1, 3-4-1) looks to clinch a berth in the Big Ten tournament this weekend with a victory over either No. 13 Michigan (9-3-2, 6-1-1) or unranked Michigan State (8-6-1, 2-5-1). The Badgers host the lady Wolverines and Spartans to close out their 2004 conference schedule.

After a rapid start, the team struggled in Big Ten play and now has an opportunity to realize its preseason goal.

“The important thing is to just play our game — our ball control, our speed, etc.,” head coach Dean Duerst said. “I think that we’ve been consistent in almost all [of] our games. Our guys feel good about themselves, they’re confident, and it’s all about wins to get into the Big Ten tournament. A win secures that for us, so there is a lot to play for. To have only two of these games left in conference makes this crucial.”

The Badgers’ first shot at securing a berth comes Friday against Michigan State. The Spartans come into the match riding a four-game losing streak and also must secure a win to keep their tournament hopes alive.

“[Coming out strong] will be very important, and every time we’ve done that we’ve been very successful,” Duerst said. “One of the things you’ve got to do is be committed and stay focused for the whole 90 minutes. We know that [Michigan State is] a dangerous team, and scoring early always puts extra pressure on them. It’s one of those things where [if] we score early and (then) maybe we can knock them out of the game.”

With back-to-back wins, Duerst’s squad could also cross the .500 mark in conference play for the first time all year, allowing them to claim a better seed in the tournament.

“We’re focusing on Michigan State right now, whatever happens against Michigan we don’t want to have the extra pressure of having to win that game,” Duerst said. “The bottom line is we could get two big wins here and get some momentum for the rest of the season. Looking at some of the teams coming into the Big Ten, we might get a higher seeding and that could be crucial in your first round game.”

Wisconsin has been getting many chances over the past few games by simply playing their style. Duerst looks to continue that trend heading into play this weekend.

“We’ve got to play to our strengths,” Duerst said. “That’s something a bunch of other coaches have told me is that against Michigan State you need to play to your strengths and your game. It is our ability to move the ball around quickly and get to the endline, and now we’ve just got to finish those chances.”

The Badgers face one of their toughest opponents of the year Sunday in Michigan. Currently, the Wolverines sit second in the Big Ten standings, behind only Penn State, a squad that shut out the Badgers at home earlier in the year.

Michigan has two dynamic scorers in freshman Melissa Dobbyn and junior Therese Heaton. The duo has combined to score over half of the Wolverines total goals on the season. But that is not something new to the Badgers, as they have faced many teams with strong scoring threats so far this year.

“Your players need to be aware of them (Dobbyn and Heaton),” Duerst said. “If you try to keep the ball away from them and eliminate the number of times they’ll be getting the ball, it is playing into some of their weaknesses. You’ve got to know that those are dangerous players, and we’ve faced other teams like Illinois, Penn State and Ohio State that have had players like that.”

Besides having to shut down Michigan’s high scoring duo, Wisconsin also has to deal with goalie Megan Tuura. Tuura is giving up less than one goal per game and has recorded six shutouts on the season.