After winning five of their last six regular season games to capture the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament the Wisconsin women’s soccer team travels to Bloomington, Ind. to face off against No. 3 seeded Michigan Wednesday.
The Badgers’ first round matchup is a rematch of a regular season bout where the Wolverines won 3-0. Despite being handled on their home turf by Michigan earlier this season, the Badgers recognize the strides they have made as a team since that loss.
“We’ve looked at them [on film],” senior midfielder Monica Lam-Feist said. “We know their tactics and how they play so we’re just going to try to implement a game plan and follow through and that will be the key.”
Following a loss to Iowa in their regular season finale, UW looks to regain the momentum they possessed during their recent five-game winning streak.
Lam-Feist described the confidence that she has in her team to recover from a disappointing loss to the Hawkeyes. “Obviously we didn’t want to lose that last final game but I think it was kind of a wake up call for us. If anything it’s okay to lose that last game and bounce back in the playoffs.”
Resiliency has been an important characteristic of a Wisconsin team that has most recently defeated Illinois and Indiana in come-from-behind-victories. Without the late game heroics that the Badgers displayed this year, the playoffs may have been out of reach for the team.
“It’s going to take a group effort [against Michigan]. We’re going to have to do everything together,” senior forward Paige Adams said about the keys to an opening round victory. “A big thing for us is getting tackles and winning the ball and keeping the ball once we win it. I think that’s going to be huge for us.”
UW will be busy Wednesday night containing Michigan's standout junior forward Nkem Ezurike who has been the Wolverines’ most effective offensive player, tallying 11 goals and 23 points this season.
The Badgers look to utilize the younger players on the team along with the experience and maturity that the upperclassmen offer in order to upset Michigan Wednesday night.
“I think were different this year especially because we have a lot of younger players and we have experience around our older players as well,” Lam-Feist said of this year’s team compared to last year's Wisconsin squad which was eliminated in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. “Going forward we’re a different team because we know what to expect and we also have a lot of youth [who haven’t been in this atmosphere before]."
Although the Badgers may not be favored against Michigan, the team has proven this year that they have the ability to stick with any team in the Big Ten, giving them a legitimate opportunity to make a run in their second conference tournament in two years.
“If we're the underdogs we're not really expected to win so we can really go in there and take chances and risks," Lam-Feist said. “We’re ready to perform and we’re going to come out and compete.”
