When Wisconsin plays No. 16 Creighton this weekend it has the chance to, pardon the cliché, kill two birds with one stone. Those ""birds"" come in the form of a five-game winless streak this season and a four-game losing streak to the Blue Jays. A win would obviously put an end to both.
But that's not going to be easy considering the opponent. To topple Creighton, who have started their season with a 5-1-0 record for the second time in three years, Wisconsin (1-4-1) must continue to play strong defense against a team that has scored 14 goals, and penetrate a defense that has only given up five all year. With those stats in mind the Blue Jays clearly provide the hardest test for the Wisconsin offense and defense this season.
Despite the challenges the team faces, Wisconsin has reason to believe it can find success Friday in Omaha, Neb. after showing a drastic improvement from their 1-0 loss to San Diego State to their 0-0 draw with Dayton last weekend. Following the Badgers' tie with the Flyers on Sunday, senior goalkeeper Ryan Vint said they have all the pieces — it's just a matter of putting together a coheisve unit.
""We have all the tools, all the people and all the players,"" Vint said. ""We just got to put a win together.""
Vint also stressed that the team needs to start shooting more. According to Vint, part of the problem with Wisconsin's shooting woes is they ""try to make everything too perfect,"" which results in many half-chances but nothing more.
The same cannot be said for Creighton's offense. Led by sophomore transfer Jose Gomez and tied for the NCAA lead with six assists, the Blue Jays have had no trouble putting the ball in the net. In fact, their 14 goals are tied for 16th among NCAA Division I teams. On the receiving end of many of Gomez's assists is junior Ethan Finlay, who has a team-high four goals. If the Badgers can shut down these two playmakers it will make the team's effort a lot easier to get a favorable result.
Perhaps the biggest question for this match though is whether Wisconsin can score on Creighton goalie Brian Holt. The junior goalkeeper opened the season with four straight shutouts and has a 0.82 average goals against through six matches. Meanwhile, the Badgers have only tallied three goals throughout the year, including two from senior tri-captain Aaron Nichols.
This game will provide a yardstick for Wisconsin to measure how far they have come since the beginning of this young season. Trask previously said the team has not had a lot of time to get used to each other's playing styles, and Creighton could exploit that if UW has not improved in practice this past week.
