[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]After dropping its fourth-straight match and Big Ten opener to Ohio State Sunday, the Wisconsin men's soccer team (4-6-0, 0-1-0 Big Ten) looks to get back on track Tuesday as they take on UW-Milwaukee (4-2-3, 1-1-0 Horizon) at 3 p.m. at Engelmann Field in Milwaukee.

Although Milwaukee leads the series with a 12-11-4 record against Wisconsin, the Badgers have won the last two meetings against the Panthers including a 1-0 victory at Engelmann Field in 2003 and a 2-1 victory last year in Madison.

Over the years, the in-state rivalry has proven to be one of the fiercest in the nation. With 12 out of the past 13 matches being decided by one goal — including four overtime matches — today's matchup has all of the ingredients of another thriller.

"In my mind, it's one of the biggest in the United States as far as college soccer," head coach Jeff Rohrman said of the rivalry. "It goes back a long, long way, there's a tremendous tradition and history between the two schools and I think anyone who attends these games will get a sense and a feel for just how heated the battle is."

While scoring only two goals in the last four matches, Wisconsin's offensive struggles continue to plague the Badgers. The UWM offense, on the other hand, has been flourishing all season long, tallying 20 goals in its 11 matches.

Rohrman knows the team has the potential to score goals; it has simply become a matter of finding the finishing touch and polishing off its chances, Rohrman said.

"I think we've got a lot of guys who can score," Rohrman said. "We've got a lot of guys who can get themselves in the right position, and now they just have to find a higher level of concentration — a little better execution — and they're going to convert those. Clearly we've been able to create those chances; we just have to do a better job finishing them."

So far this season, every Wisconsin regular season match has been decided by one goal. If the Badgers are to come away with a victory Tuesday, Rohrman believes the team will need to play solid defense the entire match and put multiple balls into the net.

"I'd like [today's match] to be decided by two or more [goals]," Rohrman said. "When we get one, we're going to learn from the past mistakes we've made — when we've had a goal and let it get away — and we're going to get another, and then we're going to keep pushing and keep being the aggressor."

While Wisconsin lost a tough Big Ten opener to Ohio State 2-1 in overtime last Sunday, Milwaukee also suffered a 2-1 defeat Sunday at the hands of Horizon Conference opponent University of Detroit-Mercy. Despite outshooting the Titans 16-9 and holding a corner kick advantage of 6-2, the Panthers were unable to find the equalizer at the end of the game.

The defeat snapped a long streak for the Panthers in which they had not lost a Horizon League regular season game at home since falling 3-2 in overtime to Loyola University on Oct. 8, 2000. The streak lasted just under five years.

While UWM may be vulnerable following such a loss, Wisconsin will still have to bring it's A-game and put some points on the board early.

As with most sports rivalries, each team knows the other extremely well, and both are well prepared knowing what to expect. Today's match is no exception, as the Badgers know precisely what they must accomplish to notch a victory.

"We have to play a complete game," Rohrman said. "We know what Milwaukee's about, they've played the same system for as long as [UW-Milwaukee] coach [Louis] Bennett's been there. We know what to expect, so we've just got to come out and do some of the little things better than what we did against Ohio State."