The UW men's soccer team is heading west this weekend to play Santa Clara and UC Irvine in the UC Irvine College Classic. Wisconsin is seeking their first victory of the year after tying UW-Parkside and Loyola-Chicago in exhibition matches this summer.
The Badgers take on the Broncos of Santa Clara Saturday in UW's first official match of their 2010 campaign. Both teams are looking to start off their years with a win after coming off disappointing 2009 seasons; Santa Clara finished 6-9-5 while Wisconsin went 7-9-2.
The relative inexperience of each squad —the Broncos have only 13 upperclassmen while the Badgers have 11—means young players could have a major impact on the match.
But Wisconsin does have a host of experienced players to rely on. Senior tri-captain Ryan Vint will assume the starting role at goalkeeper to anchor the Badger defense. Vint has been in and out as Wisconsin's goalie the past couple seasons, but now that he is the most experienced player on the team, the job is his.
Fellow tri-captain and senior midfielder Jon Rzepka, finished third on Wisconsin's points list last season with five. After graduating three of their top four point leaders this past year, Rzepka and the Badgers must find new options to help handle the scoring load.
Wisconsin faces its biggest test to date when it plays No. 20-ranked UC Irvine on Monday at Anteater Stadium.
Although their nickname isn't all that intimidating, UC Irvine's soccer team is.
The Anteaters trounced Gonzaga 4-0 in their season opener Wednesday. That performance included two goals in the match's first five minutes and seven different players making the score sheet.
Needless to say, the Badger defense will have their hands full trying to contain the Anteaters' offensive weapons. Heading the Badgrs defensive attack is senior defenseman Aaron Nichols. Nichols and the Wisconsin defense will try to ease Vint's workload and prevent UC Irvine from creating too many chances in the penalty area. And it's not just the penalty area the Badgers must lock down. The Anteaters recorded 21 shots, including 13 on goal, from all over the offensive third.
To have a chance at recording their first shutout of the season, the Badgers can't allow UC Irvine to get that many shots off.
Since these are the first official matches under first-year head coach John Trask, it will be interesting to see how the weekend plays out. There are bound to be a few hiccups with the new transition, not to mention the 14 freshmen joining the squad, but the Badgers have been playing fairly well through the exhibition season thus far.
The Californians will have home field advantage, but it wouldn't be surprising if the Badgers came out with at least one win this weekend.
