After the Wisconsin men's soccer team (2-3-0) dropped their third decision in a row, head coach John Trask commented that his team does not do well on Friday-Sunday games, a problem that goes back to the 2010 season. The Badgers have one last chance this fall to erase it.
Wisconsin's chance will come this weekend as they head to Chicago, Ill. to face Drake University (4-1-1) on Friday and SIU Edwardsville (3-1-1) on Sunday.
""At this point of the season, it's more mental,"" Trask said about the team's struggles during Friday-Saturday games.
The Badgers inability to close out these games can be greatly attributed to the team's lack of experience. The Badgers currently have 27 players on their roster. Of those 27 players, 19 are underclassmen. Of the remaining 8 players, only a few have had significant playing time in the past.
While Trask was not shy to comment on his team's inexperience, he was quick to point out that these early season losses will help in the long run.
""We've challenged ourselves and we've learned some important lessons early in the season,"" Trask said.
Effects of this inexperience were seen on the back line of the Badgers.
""The mistakes were quite costly this past weekend,"" senior defender Colin Mani said.
Despite making these mistakes, Mani contributes them more to momentary lapses of focus.
""They were fluke mistakes,"" Mani sad. ""Normally we are pretty sharp back there. We've been working on staying clicked in the whole time and mentally being there.""
Wisconsin will have to be there mentally the entire weekend as they will face two opponents that are on the winning side of .500. Even though both teams, Drake and SIU Edwardsville, have records above .500, Trask expects this weekend to be less of a challenge.
""I think Drake and SIU are both very good teams,"" Trask said. ""I'm not sure if they've played quite the schedule we have up until now.""
Regardless of whether their opponents this weekend have played a schedule as strong as the Badgers have, it remains a fact that both teams have very good records and are more experienced than Wisconsin.
If the Badgers are to walk away with even one win, they will have to conquer their inexperience and keep the mental mistakes to a minimum.
