After enjoying success in its non-conference season, Wisconsin (6-2-1) is set to begin Big Ten play this weekend with games Friday against Illinois (6-3-0) and Sunday against Purdue (6-3-1).
The Badgers enter the weekend after starting the home stand with 3-1 and 4-0 victories over Pepperdine (3-4-2) and Nevada (0-6-2), respectively.
“We all had a lot of energy coming in to practice this week,” senior captain Taylor Walsh said. “We were all pretty excited as a team. It was a really fun atmosphere in practice this week.”
UW is excited to begin play in the Big Ten this weekend as they get set to play two of the better teams in the conference. Unlike last year, when Wisconsin entered conference play 3-3-1, this year’s squad heads into Big Ten play riding high following a pair of dominant victories.
“This year, we have a little bit more confidence going into conference play,” head coach Paula Wilkins said. “I’m quite excited. I think this is what we work the whole season for, so I’m excited to see what happens.”
Last season, Wisconsin began conference play on the road at Purdue with a 4-0 loss, the first of six consecutive conference road losses. One of those losses also came at Illinois in the form of a 3-0 defeat.
After last year’s tough losses to Illinois and Purdue, Wisconsin has revenge on its mind this weekend.
“I haven’t, personally, ever beaten Illinois or Purdue,” Walsh said. “So that means nobody else on the team has ever beaten Illinois or Purdue. We’re all pretty geared up for the games this weekend.”
Walsh is expected to sit out again this weekend, after missing the Badgers’ last three games with a knee injury. After getting off to a strong start with six goals in five games, Walsh is anxious to return to the field.
“It’s definitely a struggle to have to watch from the sideline as a senior,” Walsh said. “I want to play every minute of every game, but it’s just something I can’t do right now, and I have had to come to terms with that I guess.”
With the Badgers’ youth, Wilkins has focused a lot this week on preparing her players for the better, faster competition they will face in the Big Ten. Rather than weigh them down with the challenges they will face, however, Wilkins chose to accentuate the strengths of her team and how they will help in conference play.
“We did a lot of telling them and showing them the things that they do really well,” Wilkins said. “I also talked a lot with individual players, making sure they had their roles set out and how they’re going to impact our play.”
Illinois enters the weekend on a two-game winning streak following home wins against Colorado College and Washington. The Illini are led offensively by junior Chichi Nweke with 11 points on four goals and three assists through nine games.
Illinois has out-shot its opponents 119-92 this season en route to outscoring them 13-8. The Illini often rely on their speed and fast-paced style of play to wear down their opponents as the game goes on.
“I know Illinois is going to be really fast, and they’re going to want to run right at us,” freshman Laurie Nosbusch said. “We’re not going to be able to back down or let up at all during the game.”
Much like Wisconsin, Purdue has excelled at home this season while struggling on the road. The Boilermakers are 5-1-0 at home but only 1-2-1 away from West Lafayette.
Purdue is led by junior Loredana Riverso and freshman Kellie Phillips with 10 points each. The Boilermakers are a young team as well, with nine of the team’s 19 goals through 10 games being scored by freshmen. Purdue presents similar challenges to Wisconsin as Illinois does — speed and physical play.
“They are both great attacking teams,” Wilkins said. “They each have a great front six that will be very dynamic as well. They’ll also be much more physical than any team we’ve dealt with, which is common in Big Ten play. We’re going to have to deal with the tempo of a great attacking team in both games.”
