After suffering a crushing defeat to No. 19 Michigan State this past weekend, the Wisconsin men’s soccer team will look to get back on track as they take on Loyola-Chicago on Wednesday night.

Despite scoring early in their match against Michigan State and going up 1-0 at halftime, the Badgers (2-8-1 overall, 0-4 Big Ten) were unable to hold the lead for the remainder of the match, as the Spartans responded with two goals in the second half and won 2-1.

As of late, UW has found themselves scoring earlier and earlier in matches, and they will continue to emphasize getting off to a strong start. But what they now must emphasize even more is holding and growing that lead as the match carries on.

“It’s always good to go up early, but what we try to emphasize is to just keep playing,” junior midfielder Drew Conner said. “Sometimes when you are up early, you tend to sit back a bit and take a lot of their pressure in. As soon as we get that first goal, we now have to keep the pressure on and go for that second one.”

The Badgers may find themselves having a tough time scoring at all, let alone early, come Wednesday, as Loyola (4-4-2 overall, 1-1 Horizon) has a defense that has remained tough all year. Through their first 10 games, Loyola has only given up seven goals to its opponents.

“I know [Loyola] has some new pieces that [they’re] very pleased with,” Wisconsin head coach John Trask said. “I’m sure they feel a bit like us in the sense that they maybe have not scored as many goals as opportunities they have created, but I also know they are a team that feels very good about their defense and their goalkeeper because they’re not giving up many goals.”

The Badgers have had their fair share of opportunities to score in every match, although they have struggled to convert those chances into goals as of late.

Those opportunities may not be so common against Loyola, so it is important for the Badgers to take advantage of their opportunities at the net when they do come.

“That’s a recipe for success in soccer, getting timely goals, which I am sure they are still working on,” Trask said. “But, they are also making sure they aren’t giving up opportunities, and that creates a big challenge for us.”

While Wisconsin has found themselves in three overtime matches this season, that is nothing on Loyola’s five, which have come in the team’s past five matches. Loyola’s inability to escape overtime is just another testament to how tough it is to score on them and just another reason why the Badgers must convert when goal-scoring chances present themselves.

“We have got to become a team that’s dangerous in our moments and not give the other team moments,” Trask said. “It sounds like though they have not scored as many goals. They also are not giving up goals, and that’s why you are seeing them in those overtime games. Every game they have played they have been right there, so we are expecting a tremendous battle.”

With a big home matchup with Ohio State looming this weekend, it is important that this Badger squad stay focused on the task at hand and really take things one game at a time. This Loyola team is going to come out strong, so UW needs to be ready.

But at this point in the season, Trask doesn’t see his team having any issues with that.

“When you are 2-8-1, if you aren’t fired up for every opportunity to get more wins underneath your belt, then you don’t have the right players here,” Trask said. “These guys will get their focus where it needs to be, and I don’t envision that being a problem.”

The Badgers will take on the Ramblers at McClimon Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.