The Wisconsin women's soccer team (6-4-1) has been working on fundamentals in preparation for two games this weekend against the Ohio State Buckeyes (4-4-2) and the No. 22 Penn State Nittany Lions (6-5-0) Friday and Sunday, respectively.
We are going back to the basics. Focusing on ourselves [and we have] spent a lot of time defending as a group, possessing the ball and moving forward as a unit,"" head coach Paula Wilkins said. Wilkins believes that she needs to get her team back in the right frame of mind after the two losses last weekend against Illinois and Purdue.
The Buckeyes are enjoying a four-game winning streak, with one Big Ten victory under their belt. Senior Lisa Collison has four goals this season for the Buckeyes, and her freshman teammate Taylor Moront has three. Collison is an experienced forward who is a threat to other teams with her speed and ability to score. The Buckeyes' midfield is the most experienced of their lineup, returning five players from the 2007 lineup. Ohio State junior goalkeeper Lauren Robertson has been very successful for them. Last year, Robertson had seven shutouts and made the Big Ten All-Tournament team.
Robertson averages about four saves a game and has secured two shutouts thus far in the season.
""[Ohio State] is very good at home. [They] are well-coached, they are young, have some dangerous players up front with Lisa Collison and Paige Maxwell and a very good goalkeeper. [Ohio State] has always been dangerous,"" Wilkins said.
Sunday afternoon, the Badgers will head over to University Park, Penn., to face the Nittany Lions. Penn State is eager to win its 10th-straight Big Ten championship and make another appearance in the NCAA tournament this year. Their front-line will be strong, with returning players like junior Katie Schoepfer and sophomore Dani Toney.
Schoepfer, Toney, and junior Nikki Watts have each scored four goals, and Toney has added five assists. The Lions' junior goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is arguably the best goalie in college soccer and has 38 saves this season.
Wilkins believes that Penn State is very dangerous up front and that they are a better team than their record shows.
Wisconsin plans to take advantage of every set play they have this weekend after showing how effective and versatile they can be with their number of corner-kick opportunities last weekend.
""We need to possess the ball a little bit more to get more numbers forward so we can be a little bit more dangerous,"" Wilkins said of their success off set plays. Defensively, the Badgers continue to work on one-on-one defending and moving up and down the field as a team.
""We know each person can defend one versus one, so as long as we play with each other as a group, we will be fine [this weekend],"" junior midfielder Whitney Owusu said.
The Badgers will face Ohio State Friday night in Columbus, Ohio, at the Jesse Owens Stadium at 6:30 p.m.
