With only one loss on the season to No. 2 UCLA, the No.15 Wisconsin women’s soccer team hopes to keep up their early season success as they wrap up their home non-conference schedule Sunday against Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) opponent Illinois State.

Wisconsin (4-1) is going into Sunday’s game at the McClimon Complex with the taste of their first defeat still fresh in their minds. The 2-0 loss to UCLA stained UW’s 3-0 record. The Badgers must now look ahead to Illinois State (3-1-2), which also boasts just one loss on the season.

Despite hailing from the smaller MVC, head coach Paula Wilkins is still expecting a fight from the Redbirds this weekend.

“I have a great respect for Illinois State,” Wilkins said. “They have a really dangerous forward who can cause some problems and they are really well organized. Drew (Roff) does a fantastic job with them there and they are going to be very disciplined and very physical. They are going to pressure us very hard and I think that is going to be hard for us to deal with. It’s going to be a good test for us.”

Illinois State was undefeated until last weekend, where Western Michigan handed the Redbirds their first loss of the season. ISU’s success so far can be attributed to productivity on both offense and defense. The defense has allowed more than one goal only twice this season, and the offense is averaging two and a half goals per game, including a victory over Florida Atlantic in which they exploded with seven goals.

The Badgers’ defense will have their hands full with the Redbirds’ biggest offensive threat in sophomore forward Rachel Tejada. Tejada has already put up monster numbers this season – eight goals in only six games along with one assist.

Coach Wilkins likes how the defense is playing right now and is confident they won’t struggle to defend Illinois State Sunday.

“Our defending as a group has been very good,” Wilkins said. “They are committed to each other in terms of doing the work to do that. They are good in the box; they have been organized in the back. That makes it harder for teams to break us down and I think that needs to continue this weekend.”

Wisconsin’s captain and senior defender Lindsey Johnson is a little more critical of her defensive squad. Johnson is focused on the defense working on the mistakes they have made so far this season instead of worrying about Tejada and Illinois State’s potent attack.

“We are just focusing on what our problems were in the past few games,” Johnson said. “We are trying to open the field and not play as vertically as we have been playing. We are just trying to fix those things for Sunday.”

UW has had a stingy defense in 2012, allowing only four goals all season after pitching three consecutive shutouts to open the year. Wisconsin’s offense has been just as effective, scoring four or more goals in three of their five games this season.

Redshirt junior forward Paige Adams, who’s been an integral part of the Badgers offense with three goals and an assist, said she hopes the offensive squad keeps turnovers to a minimum and continues to push the offense forward against Illinois State.

“What we’ve learned from the last few games is that we have to keep better possession of the ball. We have been getting away from that in the last few games,” Adams said. “So I think if we can focus on that, we can get in behind teams and attack better. We are getting more players forward and that means we get more shots on goal and opportunities to score, which has made all the difference in the world this season.”

Sunday’s game marks the first home game of the season since students have been back on campus. UW Athletics is throwing a student kickoff party at Sunday’s game to welcome the students back to the McClimon Complex, offering them free admission and a chance to win prizes.

After not playing at home for over a week and a half, Adams is excited the team is back home and anxious to play in front of her fellow students.

“We are all excited to play at home again,” Adams said. “It will be good for us to play for our home crowd and have them cheering for us.”