The fate of the Wisconsin women's soccer team will lie in their own hands Friday as the Badgers head to Evanston to face rival Northwestern.

If the Badgers beat Northwestern, they will advance to the Big Ten tournament. However, if Northwestern wins, they will proceed to the Big Ten tournament. If the contest between the two schools ends in a tie, neither team will advance and Indiana will move on to the Big Ten tournament.

It's a difficult situation to be in, but Wisconsin has prevailed under this kind of pressure before. Two years ago, Wisconsin faced Minnesota in their final Big Ten match. The Badgers were in a must-win situation against the Gophers. A win was needed to secure a Big Ten tournament berth.

Katy Lindenmuth triumphed in the game, scoring two goals and helping the Badgers beat Minnesota 4-3. With the victory, the Badgers were able to advance to the Big Ten tournament.

Head coach Dean Duerst is hoping his squad will produce a similar outcome Friday.

"It's a game our team has been in before," Duerst said. "It's a playoff game. This is what it boils down to; this is our play-in game for the Big Ten."

The Badgers, recently coming off of two wins, will be entering the contest excited and full of momentum.

During their last game, the Badgers defeated Ohio State 3-1 to stay alive in the Big Ten race. Wisconsin also tallied a 6-1 victory last week against in-state rival UW-Milwaukee.

"We are coming off to two very big wins and we are playing our best soccer right now," Duerst said. "We are scoring goals, we are putting the ball in and we are playing exciting soccer. I think that going into the game knowing [that] is an advantage, a confidence booster and that is what this team needs right now.

"There is so much to play for in this game and there was in the last game we played. We do well when we play under pressure."

"We are super-excited that we have things in our control," junior Allison Priess added. "If we win the game, we are in the tournament. So we just have to do what we need to do to win."

After winning seven of their first eight games, Northwestern has been in a downhill spiral, winning only two of their last 10 games.

Goalkeeper Whitney Jones has carried the weight for the Wildcats all season, accumulating four shutouts and 75 saves — good for fourth in the Big Ten. The junior was selected as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after recording nine saves last weekend.

Jones should provide plenty of competition for UW forwards Amy Vermeulen and Lindenmuth, as well as midfielder Kara Kabellis.

During last year's match-up between the schools, Vermeulen scored the lone goal for the Badgers off a penalty kick. Lindenmuth had one shot in the contest. Northwestern wound up defeating the Badgers 2-1 in overtime.

Vermeulen is currently leading Wisconsin in goal scoring and points, with seven goals and six assists for a total of 20 points. Lindenmuth and Kabellis each have six goals and four assists.

Lynn Murray will start at keeper for Wisconsin. She has recorded two shutouts and 59 saves so far this season.

Murray is looking forward to stopping Northwestern's leading scorer Tabitha Lowey. Lowey hails from Murray's home state, Georgia, and has been a rival of Murray's since high school. Lowey also scored the game-winning goal against the Badgers last year.

"I know two people from Georgia in the whole Big Ten and one of them plays for Northwestern, so this is a big one for me personally," Murray said. "This is going to be a huge game for us, and I think we are ready."

Wisconsin holds a commanding 10-3 advantage in the all-time series. The Badgers are also hoping a win against the Wildcats will help qualify them for the NCAA tournament.

"It's only up from here. We are really excited. We just need a win on Friday to get into the tournament so we can prove ourselves because I think we have not been able to do that this year," midfielder Taylor Walsh said.

With a loss, Wisconsin will be sent home with one final game to be played against Colorado College Sunday.

"I don't want it to end. The thought of our season ending this Friday scares us," senior Marissa Brown said.