Women’s Hockey
The Wisconsin women’s hockey team will open their official schedule by hosting Minnesota State Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. in the LaBahn Arena.
Head coach Mark Johnson emphasized the importance of the opener to get the freshmens’ feet wet, calling it “an opportunity to go on the ice, play live competition with announcers, with the referees, with the fans, try to get the jitters and nerves out.”
Johnson also commended all involved with hosting the Japanese National Team in last week’s exhibition game.
“I think the hospitality we showed them, going on the football field, had a nice crowd at the exhibition game, an opportunity at the end of that to take a photo with their team and our team on the ice,” Johnson said. “It was a special night. I want to thank everybody that had a hand in their journey being successful.”
Football
Following a disappointing loss at Ohio State last weekend, the football team (1-1 Big Ten, 3-2 overall) will head into its bye week with an Oct. 12 matchup against a talented Northwestern team to prepare for.
Head coach Gary Andersen discussed the recent loss to Ohio State, describing a set of four goals that are key to winning: great defense, turnovers, special teams and fourth quarter performance.
He attributed the team’s loss to a lack of turnovers and poor special teams play, with not enough defense and insufficient fourth-quarter success to make up for it.
Andersen refused to say his team was physically overmatched, and went so far as to say he would never use that excuse as a coach.
Andersen also took responsibility for the Badgers’ major mistakes, like Ohio State’s touchdown at the end of the first half and an illegal formation penalty that negated a muffed punt.
“Can we play that better? Yeah, but I’m not going to put that on a kid,” Andersen said. “We failed the kids in that system in the moment to not get him in the spot. But it’s the call that was made. If I didn’t like it, I should have called a timeout, and I didn’t.”
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team (2-0-1 Big Ten, 7-1-2 overall) will play No. 3 Penn State Friday and Ohio State Sunday at the McClimon Soccer Complex, coming off a successful, road trip heavy start to the season.
Head coach Paula Wilkins expressed pride in the teams start, mentioning the team’s mindset and their self-given nickname of “road warriors.”
“They’ve created an environment where they get excited about it,” Wilkins said. “I think they’ve taken away a lot of the distractions on the road.”
Wilkins also discussed the novelty of playing against her old program at Penn State, making sure to note the important thing will always be the players, with coaching matchups serving as a footnote.
“It’s about the players more than anything,” Wilkins said. “I think I heard Coach Andersen talk about that, about playing Urban Meyer. It’s about the players. It’s not about my previous history.”
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team (0-1-0 Big Ten, 5-2-1 overall) will open up a four-game homestand on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against Marquette. This follows a long string of road games, which ended with back-to-back losses to Gonzaga and Penn State.
Head coach John Trask looked ahead to the Marquette game, relishing the opportunity to play a rivalry game.
“Marquette has had a very good couple of years here,” Trask said. “As I said, we took them to overtime last year. It’s going to be a battle. All of our kids know their kids. It’s a rivalry game. It’s usually a pretty physical contest, and it’s usually decided by one or two plays. Those are the games that make you better.“
Trask later referred to the game as the “I-94 Battle.”
Volleyball
The volleyball team (2-0 Big Ten, 13-1 overall) recently registered its first two conference wins over Purdue and Indiana and will now begin a run of four straight road games.
Head coach Kelly Sheffield lauded the atmosphere for the Purdue game, describing the crowd as fantastic.
Looking into the future presented by a difficult Big Ten schedule, Sheffield explained the help that challenge can bring.
“You don’t have the luxury of looking ahead,” Sheffield said. “You look ahead and you find yourself in a five?match losing streak. It really forces you to be in the present.”
