[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]After dropping their sixth-straight match, a 1-0 heartbreaker in overtime to Penn State last Sunday, the struggling Wisconsin men's soccer team (4-8-0, 0-2-0 Big Ten) is set to take on a sizzling No. 8 Indiana squad (7-1-3, 1-1-1) Friday night at the McClimon Soccer Complex.

Statistically, Indiana has owned Wisconsin over the past 30 years, posting a 26-3-3 all-time record and outscoring the Badgers 77 to 12. But, while UW may have lost its past 11 contests with the Hoosiers, it was only edged by close 1-0 defeats in their last two meetings.

So far this season, Wisconsin has already faced powerhouse clubs No. 12 Fairleigh Dickinson and No. 2 New Mexico. Friday night they add not just another ranked opponent to that list, but the two-time defending national champions.

While head coach Jeff Rohrman admits Indiana's credentials are impressive, he also believes the Hoosiers are quite conquerable.

"Indiana is not unbeatable, that's been shown this year already," Rohrman said. "So we're going to come in with a level of confidence and composure and just enjoy the challenge and the opportunity to play them."

Along with history on their side, the Hoosiers also arrive in Madison with a great deal of momentum. While Wisconsin has been outscored 9-2 in their last six matches, Indiana has outscored its opponents 9-0 in its last three contests. With the strength of 5-0, 2-0 and 2-0 shutout victories, Indiana head coach Mike Freitag's squad should be relaxed and surefooted.

Where Wisconsin has struggled most this season is where Indiana has flourished thus far. In the scoring department, the Badgers have only managed to tally 11 strikes this season. Indiana, by contrast, has already netted 28 goals. In order to score a victory in Friday's matchup, the Badgers will be looking to play solid, patient defense.

"Well, we obviously have to be very disciplined and play with some intelligence as far as our defending is concerned," Rorhman said. "We've talked about the things we have to do with our individual defending, and also our team defending. [Indiana is] a talented team and they're going to punish you when you make mistakes and when you turn the ball over in bad places."

A major portion of Indiana's goalscoring this season has come from the talented trio of Jacob Peterson, Josh Tudela and Brian Plotkin. This three-pronged arsenal has scored a combined 14 goals already — more than the entire Badger squad.

Tudela, a junior from Evansville, Ind., was selected to College Soccer News and Soccer America National Teams of the Week for his performances last week. The midfielder scored both Hoosier goals against Louisville University, and scored another beauty against the University of Michigan.

Rohrman recognizes Tudela's abilities and has alerted his players to keep an eye out for the elusive playmaker and goalscorer.

"Well, we've just got to be aware of where [Tudela] is at," Rohrman said. "He's one of these central midfielders who can float balls in and find spaces. He's good with both feet and he's certainly filled the void where maybe their forwards weren't getting as many goals — he's been able to step up and provide part of the scoring punch for them."

In regards to Wisconsin's goalscoring woes, Rohrman believes he has the players to provide the finishing, but needs to do some tinkering with the offensive strategies.

"As far as scoring goals, we should have some space [against Indiana] and we've got some players who can do some things," Rohrman said. "We're going to change some things going forward in our attack though because obviously we've struggled finding the net recently. We've got to be sharp and do the most we can with the chances we get — hopefully, we'll be able to do that."

Though facing the two-time defending national champs is not the easiest way for most teams to extinguish a slump, the Badger players seem optimistic about Friday's showdown.

"Well, it's obviously one of the biggest games on our schedule," captain Aaron Hohlbein said. "They're always one of the top teams in the country, and when they come into our place, it's going to be a war. I think everybody is excited for it and we definitely need to get a win."