The road has not been easy so far this season for the UW women's soccer team.
The team began the Big Ten campaign with losses to Indiana and Purdue, the top two teams in the conference right now.
Head coach Paula Wilkins likes the challenge of starting off the year with such tough opponents.
"It's always good to play high-quality teams," Wilkins said. "It lets you know where you are at as a team and what you have to work on."
The Badgers have amassed a 3-5-1 record so far this season with a 0-2 mark in the Big Ten. While the first two games were difficult, it doesn't get a whole lot easier for the Badgers as 13th ranked Penn State comes to town Friday night and Ohio State visits Madison Sunday.
Penn State is 7-2-1 on the year, and Ohio State boasts a 6-3-0 record. Both are 1-0 in the Big Ten.
Wilkins has high praise for this weekend's opponents.
"I expect two great games," Wilkins said. "Penn State and Ohio State have high-caliber teams and have both won big games already this year.
"Both squads are well-organized, well-coached and have dynamic personalities."
One of the top "personalities" is Penn State sophomore Katie Schoepfer. She has six goals and one assist this season to lead the team. Sophomore Audrey Aden-Buie has been nearly as good, netting five goals for the Nittany Lions. In net, Alyssa Naeher has a goals-against average of .70 per game, including three shutouts and was last week's Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
The match against Penn State will bring an added dimension for first-year Badgers coach Wilkins. She spent 13 seasons at Penn State before coming to Wisconsin in January. During her six years as head coach, she led the Nittany Lions to an astounding 119-19-11 record and six Big Ten regular season championships and NCAA tournaments.
"It's going to be exciting," Wilkins said of her chance to play her former team. "I know a lot of the players and have been a part of a lot of success there. It should be great."
Sunday, Ohio State will feature one of the best players in the nation in Laura Dickenmann. Dickenmann has tallied 10 points this season (four goals, one assist).
A major area of concern for Wisconsin to date has been getting off to sluggish starts. In the two games against Purdue and Indiana, the Badgers did not put a shot on goal until the second half of either contest. The result: Wisconsin has been shut out four times this season.
Wilkins has a solution for the slow starts.
"I plan to give my halftime speech before the game," Wilkins said. "I'm not kidding."
The Badgers are led in scoring by Shannon Terry and Taylor Walsh, with two goals apiece, and both plan to be factors in helping the Badgers get off to a fast start.
And even after the 0-2 start, Wilkins sees the team making strides in the right direction.
"We need to continue to buy into the details and take ownership of the program," she said. "The kids have been really receptive to the changes we've been trying to make, and we've been taking baby steps forward the last few games."
