On the heels of a tough loss to UW-Milwaukee last week and the cancellation of Tuesday’s game, the Wisconsin women's soccer team can’t wait to return to the field Friday in West Lafayette, Ind., as it faces Purdue. The Badgers will look to bounce back and get off to a good start in conference play, which begins this weekend.

"Everyone is very excited to start the Big Ten [season]," senior Katy Meuer said. "Anything can happen in the Big Ten. The Big Ten is when the real season starts."

The start of conference play will be a welcome change for the Badgers after a disappointing end to the nonconference season, which included two losses in the final three matches. Last Friday, the match between Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee was delayed 85 minutes due to inclement weather conditions.

After play resumed, the Badgers came out flat and did not respond well to the torrential rain that continued to fall. Ultimately, the Panthers defeated the Badgers 1-0 on a goal scored two minutes into the second half by forward Erin Kreuser.

Tuesday night, after two days of hard work in practice, Wisconsin had hoped to bounce back from the loss in its scheduled match against Northern Iowa. Unfortunately, the game was delayed and eventually canceled by university officials for security reasons.

"Everyone was looking forward to playing Northern Iowa," Meuer said. "It would have been a big morale booster to get another win before the start of the Big Ten season."

The Badgers have been working hard all week in practice trying to get back on track after the loss to UW-Milwaukee. Specifically, the team continues to focus on its play offensively. Through seven games this season, Wisconsin has been outshot 95-53 despite only being outscored 7-6.

"We are working on our pace of play and pressure on the ball," head coach Paula Wilkins said. "We're trying to get numbers forward and keep our space offensively so we can create scoring opportunities."

Other aspects that Wisconsin is focusing on this week are keeping possession of the ball as they try to create scoring opportunities and keep the midfielders wide in transition.

"We have been focusing a lot on how to keep possession of the ball," Meuer said. "We are especially working on it in transition and how to keep the first and second passes. Once we do that, we can build an attack and turn it around on the other team."

As UW begins Big Ten play, it will face two of the strongest teams in the conference in Purdue and Indiana. Purdue (8-1-1) is currently ranked 11th in the latest NSCAA poll.

"Purdue has made a name for itself by beating [No.2] Portland," junior forward Tricia Krombach said. "It would be an excellent confidence booster for us to come out on top over Purdue."

For the Boilermakers, Friday's match is the sixth of seven straight at home. They are currently enjoying an eight-game winning streak, dating back to their only loss of the season versus Louisville Sept. 2.

Indiana (6-1-1) also received votes in the latest NSCAA poll but was not among the top 25. The Hoosiers currently have a five-game winning streak and have yet to lose in September, going 6-0-1.

The scenario may seem familiar for Wilkins’ team. UW's last road trip presented a similar situation as it traveled to BYU and Northern Arizona, two teams that had neither lost nor allowed a goal going into their respective matches against Wisconsin.

UW came away from the weekend with a 1-0 win over Northern Arizona and a 1-0 loss to BYU despite a strong effort throughout.

"It gives you some confidence to know that you can go in against a team that has had some success and possibly catch them not paying attention because of their success," Wilkins said. "[However], Indiana and Purdue are very well-coached teams and I expect they will both be well-prepared."

For Krombach, who transferred to Wisconsin this season, the match with Purdue is one that she has been waiting for since she arrived in Madison. As a former Boilermaker, Friday's match will mean a little more to her than the team’s previous games this year.

"I played with them for three seasons, so I could tell you what they are going to do in my sleep," Krombach said. "Winning on Friday would definitely be huge for me. Purdue has been on my calendar since I left there in December."