Conference games have finally arrived for the Wisconsin women's soccer team (6-2-1) and will start off playing the Illinois Fighting Illini (7-3-0) Friday night at 7 p.m. at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
The Illini are ranked No. 17 in the NSCAA Top 25 and are expected to flourish in the Big Ten. The Illini bring back six starters, as well as five players who earned All-Big Ten recognition last season.
I think [the girls] will be excited for Friday because they are on their home field. It is great for us to open up with such a great team like Illinois, a team picked high in the Big Ten. It will really test us in what we need to fix and prepare [us] for what the Big Ten will really be like,"" head coach Paula Wilkins said.
Illinois has a strong front with a combination of speed and power. Illinois' attack is led by sophomores Jordan Hilbrands and Laura Knutson. Knutson was second on the team in goal scoring, and junior teammate Chichi Nweke led the 2007 team in assists. In the preseason games, Hilbrands proved herself to be a threat by scoring at least one goal in every match.
""They [Illinois] are really dynamic in their front six, so we will have to really work on our transitional defensively and also one-on-one defending,"" Wilkins said.
""I think everyone is going to come out with a ton of heart. We have had really hard practices, and Paula has constantly been on our tempo and keeping it high. We are always competing at every practice, and I think that will lead over into the game,"" freshman midfielder Leigh Williams said.
The Illini are known to have a strong backline, with 12 shut-outs in the 2007 season, and are led by senior Emily Zurrer and sophomore Danielle Kot. Junior goalkeeper Alexandra Kapicka had only seen five matches before earning her starting spot for the Illini this season.
Wisconsin senior goalkeeper Jamie Klages had four saves last weekend against Pepperdine and Nevada. Wisconsin has shut out three of its past nine non-conference opponents. Wisconsin has a talented front with different combinations of play between all the women on the field.
Additionally, Wisconsin has improved tremendously in scoring from last year with, 21 goals compared to just eight scored by its opponents. The Badgers are diverse, with nine different women scoring this season and 11 women giving assists. Senior forward Taylor Walsh leads in goals with six, followed by freshman forward Laurie Nosbusch with five, who also leads with four assists.
With nine pre-conference games under Wisconsin's belt, the team is confident about the Big Ten.
""Every team in the nonconference [schedule] has posed a problem for us that we had to solve. The last couple of teams that we have played have the same system that teams in the Big Ten do,"" Wilkins said.
Williams said the team is excited to start seeing Big Ten teams.
""It is Big Ten, and this is our conference and we intend to win it,"" Williams said.
Wisconsin will play again Sunday at 1 p.m. at the McClimon Soccer Complex against Purdue.
