The men's soccer team is taking a break from conference play to host Western Illinois, Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
Despite a tough loss against Indiana in overtime and a tie against Michigan last week, the Badgers' busy October schedule leaves them no time to hang their heads.
As I tell a lot of the guys, it's important to have a short memory sometimes because the sting of a tie from Saturday, you want to try to erase as quickly as you can,"" Wisconsin head coach Jeff Rohrman said.
Wisconsin seeks to improve its 4-1-1 non-conference record, which includes a 1-0-1 mark in non-conference home games. More importantly, however, the Badgers are in pursuit of their first victory since defeating Cal State Northridge 2-0 on Sept. 12. In their three games since, the Badgers are 0-2-1.
Although Western Illinois University began its season with six consecutive wins, they are currently in a three game losing streak after going 0-1-1 in UW-Green Bay's Nike Classic two weeks ago, followed by a loss to Oakland on Saturday. WIU outscored its opponents 12-6 during the season and is averaging 1.33 goals per game. Martin Browne, Jr. leads the Leathernecks with four goals and four assists, while three other players have tallied two goals each.
The Badgers are 4-1 all-time against WIU in games played in Madison, including a 1-0 mark at the McClimon Complex, but that does not mean Coach Rohrman and his team will be taking this game lightly.
""I think on Wednesday, with Western coming in, it's a quality opponent, a regional opponent for us, and, you know, they're going to be one of the top teams in the Summit conference, so it's going to be important for us to play well,"" Rohrman said. ""And then ahead to the weekend, we're at Michigan State, who is coming off a great win at Penn State 4-3.""
The Badger's next chance at their first Big Ten win since Oct. 15, 2006, comes Sunday at Michigan State (4-4-0, 1-1-0 Big Ten). Wisconsin has split its last nine meetings with the Spartans, including a 3-0 loss last year in Madison.
""The one thing I always say about men's soccer in the Big Ten is there's a ton of parity,"" Rohrman said. ""Any team on any given day can beat another team. You know, we don't have any weak teams in this conference. I think that's what makes it special and makes it one of the most competitive, if not the most competitive, conference in the country for men's soccer. We have the capability to do well, and we've just got to keep moving forward.""
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
