The Wisconsin men's soccer team will put its 4-0 record to the test this Friday as it travels to Valparaiso for an afternoon showdown. The Badgers have cracked the top 25 AP rankings and come into this week's matchup at No. 22. The Badgers are currently third in the regional rankings behind Notre Dame and Indiana, surpassing their highest finish of fifth place in 2001. Although forward Dominick DaPra and goaltender Moriba Atiba Baker have moved on, this year's team might be more talented all around.
\This year we have a lot more players who have the ability to do a lot more things, while in the past we have had maybe one or two players who were our go-to guys. This year that talent is a little more spread out,"" according to senior co-captain forward Valentine Anozie.
First year Head Coach Jeff Rohrman is pleased with how well this year's team has jelled so quickly. However, Rohrman is quick to look past the rankings.
""The key to this weekend is not to get caught up in the polls and rankings, but to keep doing what we're doing,"" Rohman said. ""We are not going to show up with a ranking sheet on Friday; we are going to go out and play. However, there is a certain level of responsibility that comes with the rankings and we are going to try and live up to that.""
The Badgers are going to look to last weekend's stars to continue their clutch performances. Sophomore defensive stud Joe Andersen was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. The Racine, Wis., native looks to continue his strong play this weekend. In his first year as the starting goalkeeper, sophomore Eric Hanson also looks to continue his dominance in protecting the sacred net. Hanson has given up one goal and has had 12 saves so far this season. On the offensive side, sophomore forward Nick Van Sicklen looks to continue to provide some excitement. Van Sicklen is Wisconsin's leading returning scorer from last year with five goals, but isn't backing down from the pressure.
""Yeah, there is some pressure, but it's good pressure,"" Van Sicklen said. ""You need some pressure playing up front. Obviously you need to score goals to win games and I think the guys are looking to me and Valentine to put the goals away.""
The team looking to spoil the Badger's run at the rankings is the Crusaders. The team got off to a rough start this year after losing their first two games to Denver and Air Force. However, they rebounded nicely by beating Northwestern and a double overtime tie with Evansville, who was previously undefeated. The Crusaders' run is due to the recent success of freshmen goalie Jeff Oleck, who was the Mid-Continent Conference Defensive Player of the Week. After getting off to a shaky start, he responded with five saves against Northwestern and six saves against Evansville.
The Badgers will look to exploit a vulnerable Crusaders defense which has allowed nine goals and doesn't quite have the speed to keep up with Van Sicklen and Anozie in the open field. The Badgers are now a marked team and do not plan on backing down from the challenge.
