Coming off wins in two of their last three games, the UW Men's Soccer team (0-0-0 Big Ten, 4-3-1 Overall) will play the Marquette Golden Eagles (1-0-0 Big East, 3-4-1 Overall) at McClimon Complex on Wednesday at 7 pm. The Badgers will look to improve their home record to 3-2 on the season.
The Golden Eagles will be riding on a two game win streak from Milwaukee to Madison and look to take down the Badgers. The two teams seem evenly matched on paper, separated in scoring by only one goal with the Badgers edging the Eagles in the category 13 to 12.
""We've got a great in-state rivalry game against Marquette Wednesday evening at McClimon Soccer Complex,"" Head Coach John Trask said.
Though Marquette has a worse record than the Badgers, they always seem to keep the games close. In the four games they have lost, the difference was one goal, and they drew with Michigan St. in overtime 1-1. The Badgers have outscored opponents 7-2 in the games they have won, playing strong defense in the wins.
However, while playing at home, Wisconsin has scored as many goals as their opponents. On the road the Golden Eagles are 2-2 so far this season, scoring seven goals while giving up seven as well. Speaking solely on the irony of the statistics, these teams are extraordinarily evenly matched.
Matching up player to player will be key in this game. Wisconsin's defense, anchored by freshmen AJ Cochran, will have its hands full with last week's Big East player of the week, James Nortey. Nortey, also a freshman, has scored five goals on the season and has been involved in half of Marquette's total goals this season.
A big challenge for the Badgers on Wednesday will not even be playing against them on the field. The Badgers cannot let themselves look past this game, which may seem like an easy one compared to the upcoming schedule facing the Badgers.
""I believe both Indiana and Creighton are in the top five or six in the country and undefeated,"" Trask said at Monday's press conference.
It can be easy to look past this game if you are the Badgers. Not only do the aforementioned teams look like frontrunners for national prominence, but one, Indiana, poses a threat to UW as part of the Leaders Division of the Big Ten Conference.
Wednesday's game should be very exciting. Marquette and Wisconsin are about as evenly matched as they come. It will be tough for the Badgers to concentrate on this game with such a tough schedule ahead of them, but they should be able to accomplish the task against a hungry Golden Eagles squad anxious to extend its win streak to three games and pull back to a .500 record.
