Coming into this season, the UW women's soccer team had a chip on its shoulder. The chip was last year's dismal 5-11-3 overall season record. Before last season, the team had steadily improved each year from the 1997 season to the 2000 campaign. Then the team hit the breaks in '01. This year, the team looks to prove that last year was just a fluke, as UW hosts the Rocky Rococo Invitational in their home opener.
\All the breaks went the other way,"" Head Coach Dean Duerst said. ""We definitely played well in a lot of games, but [we played] seven overtime games and only [won] one. It's called barrier breaking, and we didn't break any barriers last year. We couldn't get into that winning streak mode. We preformed well, but we just didn't get the job done.""
This year, Wisconsin plans to get that job done with a more experienced team. UW will return a solid offense, led by junior midfielder Jenny Kundert, who was named the Overall MVP in the Iowa State Cyclone Classic last weekend. The defense is looking stronger than in past years, with senior goaltender Kelly Conway leading the team.
""We now have experience and maturity,"" Duerst said. ""With Kelly Conway as our senior captain and as our goal in the back, she really solidifies that position and experience there and she's working with the same four or five that were in front of her last year.""
Maturity and experience allow the team to make minor offensive adjustments such as increasing the attack and playing in front of the net more often.
""Getting in front of the net was our main objective in the spring,"" Duerst said. ""Now early this year it is to bury teams and put them away. That's the change we've made from the spring. [Another goal is] to allow [Kundert] to be in position where she will have a better opportunity to assist in a score.""
Wisconsin's primary goal this year is to show that last year's record was not a true reflection of what this team is capable of. They hope to show this by achieving the goal of winning the Big Ten.
""In 1998 and 2000 we were second in the Big Ten and we need to be first,"" Duerst said. ""We need to win a Big Ten title here. I think with the talent we've got and the chemistry we have. ... That's what we are after. It [will help us] to prove ourselves from last year.""
