After an underwhelming 0-0 tie with the Indiana Hoosiers
womens soccer team Sunday afternoon that wrapped up a 1-0-1 homestand in Madison, the University of Wisconsin women’s soccer team are moving on to Champaign to take on the Fighting Illini Friday evening.
The Badgers are entering the final four game stretch in
the last third of their Big Ten Conference play. Wisconsin is currently tied for 5th place in the Big Ten with Rutgers at 3-2-2.
They trail Ohio State, Minnesota, Penn State and Purdue. They sit at seven points with Ohio State and have four games to make it up, with a max of eight additional points remaining.
The Badgers are one of the top defensive teams in the Big Ten with only 13 goals allowed in 14 games while Illinois has allowed twice as many goals in their 15 games thus far. This defensive success is largely due to Badgers goaltender Caitlyn Clem, who has allowed less than one goal per game over the course of the season.
Women’s soccer: Badgers get momentum back against Purdue after unsuccessful road trip
Wisconsin’s offense is led by sophomore Dani Rhodes, who has heavily contributed with eight goals and three assists and freshman Lauren Rice with three goals and two assists.
These two in particular have come through time and time again, and have been a major reason the Badgers are in the top half of the Big Ten.
The Fighting Illini, on the other hand, are now at 2-5
and trying to recover what once felt like a lost season. They began Big Ten play with five consecutive losses and have since began to get their act together with a two game win streak they are currently riding.
This featured wins over Northwestern and Indiana. This is a promising recovery and rather encouraging for Illinois as the Big Ten Conference Tournament approaches.
The Badgers and Fighting Illini will battle it out Friday evening at 7 p.m. in Champaign. This is the start of a three-game road trip for the Badgers that features stops in Champaign, Evanston and Iowa City.
Tune in to the Big Ten Plus to watch the Badgers attempt to climb up the Big Ten Standings as conference play winds down.
