The halfway point is here for the NCAA women’s soccer season, and with it has come a trail of victories for the Wisconsin women’s soccer team to look back on.

Wisconsin (8-1-0, 2-1-0 Big Ten) is experiencing what is shaping up to be its most successful season since before any of its current players were on the roster. At the heart of all the accomplishments this season is senior forward Cara Walls.

Walls has developed a knack for finding the back of the net this fall, and is leading the conference in many different categories. She has racked up the most goals (7), goals per game (1.17), and game-winning goals (4). Included in those four game-winning goals was the lone goal in UW’s home-opener against Oregon which gave the Badgers the win.

“I focus on doing everything in my power right,” Walls said.

Walls’ tallies have been contributing to the bigger picture. Only halfway through this year, Wisconsin is sitting with nearly as many wins as it reached in total last season, and is on track to finish much higher in the conference.

But it’s not just the amount of wins that’s turned around for UW – it’s the quality of the matches as well. Leading the conference in points (66), goals (24), and goals per game (2.67), the Badgers have been blowing most of the competition out of the water, racking up as many as five goals in a single match.

Simultaneously, the Wisconsin defense has been shutting down most competition, sitting at second place in the Big Ten for goals allowed (4) and shutouts (6).

Walls is additionally leading the conference in points per game (2.33) and is third in points overall (14). Her stats are even more impressive when considering that she hasn’t been on the field for the past three games due to a nagging ankle injury, during which time UW has been faring well, going 2-1 in Big Ten play.

This points to the idea that Walls may be having more than just an impact on the field for her team.

Even though the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, native led the Badgers in goals last season, she’s become a much more valuable asset to the bench this year, as head coach Paula Wilkins explained.

“Her movement off the ball, her consistency and her ability to hold possession are all strengths of hers,” Wilkins said. “She also gets herself in good spots to finish, and when she has the opportunity, [Walls] is pretty efficient when she finishes.”

So what’s different about this year? Walls said that she, along with the rest of the UW roster, adopted a new mentality after the end of last season, when the team didn’t make it to the NCAA tournament. It also marked the third year in a row that the Badgers haven’t made it beyond the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

“We’ve always had a talented team, so we wondered, ‘What’s missing?” Walls said.  “Why aren’t we winning games, why aren’t we as successful as we want to be? We kind of realized it’s our mindset. We made a really conscious, collective decision to change all of that.”

The first thing that changed with the new, positive outlook, according to Walls, was the time put in off the field.

“In past years I didn’t always come in fit, I wasn’t on top of things over the summer or with spring workouts, and not always giving it 100 percent,” Walls said. “This spring, I got as fit as I possibly could and really gave [soccer] my everything.”

This seemed to be true of other players, who apparently felt down on their luck after three consecutive years of not placing as high as they expected.

Though Walls says it was a collective decision, Wilkins hinted that the senior might have influenced her teammates to make the change with her.

“I absolutely think Cara is a huge part of [the new attitude of the team,]” Wilkins said. “I tell players that they shouldn’t minimize what they think their impact on others can be, and I think she has had a big impact on the team.”

If this new mindset keeps working for the squad like it has been so far this fall, UW could see a postseason different from what any of the players on the current roster have experienced. Already having defeated a couple talented conference foes, Walls and her teammates have a revived determination about them concerning the NCAA tournament.

“We’ve really turned the tables, and we really want to push this program forward,” Walls said. “We really want to make a name for ourselves and win the Big Ten conference. We have that determination and drive that wasn’t there my first two or three years here. That’s something I’m really proud of, to be a part of that changing group.”