“The Beautiful Game” is known for its ups and downs throughout any season. The 2024 Wisconsin men’s soccer team has already seen both sides of that coin.
Expectations were light to begin the season. The Wisconsin Badgers didn’t receive a single preseason vote from the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Men’s national poll on Aug. 6.
The rationale behind this seemed straightforward. The Badgers posted a 6-5-6 overall record last season, a .500 win percentage in Big Ten conference play that included four draws and a first-round exit in the Big Ten Tournament. No one had reason to believe this team would rank as high as No. 8 in the national rankings.
No one except the Wisconsin Badgers themselves.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s soccer team had burst onto the national scene seemingly out of nowhere, winning six of their first seven games on the 2024 schedule. Even more impressively, these were not wins that were the product of them simply squeaking by their opponents. The Badgers have completed three clean sheets, totalled a combined score of 20-3 in their six wins and found victories over then-No. 16 Kentucky and then-No. 12 UCLA.
Part of the uncertainty and doubt surrounding this year’s team was the youth in the attack. Junior Thomas Raimbault was the only one of the top five goal scorers from last season who returned to the pitch this season. This left a void in need of filling if the Badgers had any hope of chasing success this year. Seemingly out of nowhere, the player who has filled that void is freshman Dean Boltz.
The Palatine, Illinois, native has made an immediate impact with performances that have catapulted his status on the national scene.
Boltz started the season with a hat trick and an assist against Marist College and followed the next three games with four goals and two assists. He is up to nine goals and four assists on the season, which has earned him a tie for third in most goals by a player this season so far. If there is one player that you can point to and say they have contributed to the turnaround of the men’s soccer team, it’s Boltz.
Despite the strong start to their season, the Wisconsin Badgers are 0-2-1 in their last three matchups, all against unranked Big Ten teams, unlike the Badgers themselves. The two losses also came at home, halting their undefeated standing in Madison through five games.
The Badgers have already surpassed their loss total against Big Ten teams from last season, bringing into question how well they can fare when the Big Ten Tournament comes around in November.
This upcoming stretch of games for the men’s soccer team will paint a clearer picture of what to expect from the team in the future. All five of the remaining matchups for the Badgers will be against Big Ten opponents, giving them the opportunity to turn the tide of mediocre conference play.
A good showing in the waning moments of the season could also give the Badgers the boost they need to show out in the Big Ten Tournament, one that Wisconsin hasn’t won since 2017.
There are many adjectives to describe this season for the Wisconsin men’s soccer team. Lackluster isn’t one of them.
Storylines include a lack of belief to begin the season, a breakout freshman striker and a rough patch in an otherwise stellar soccer season. One has to hope that the excitement will continue, and with that comes a push for sustained success in the program.
