The No.18 Wisconsin women's soccer team (6-0 overall) will begin Big Ten play when they take on No. 5 Penn State (5-1) Friday night at home and Ohio State (4-2) Sunday afternoon.
Squaring off against a team ranked among the nation's elite will soon become a banal occurrence once the Badgers officially begin conference play since the Big Ten is inundated with talent and toughness, but has room for only one team at the top. For the next month, UW will play only conference foes in their quest to keep their perfect record intact, or at least to attain an NCAA tournament berth should they be handed a loss along the way.
Wisconsin will face their toughest test yet when they take on perennial powerhouse Penn State, but will have to save some energy for Ohio State, a team these Badgers perhaps want to beat more than any other. The relationship could be described as only slightly more harmonious than that of the Hatfields and McCoys or Red Sox and Yankees.
\I have it out for Ohio State. Ohio State and I just don't get along, ever since my freshman year,"" said senior midfielder Molly Meuer. ""It's going to be a battle since we have a little rivalry with them. Our last couple games against them haven't gone our way. They're going to be a good team but we're going to fight to the end with them.""
Senior midfielder/forward Amy Vermeulen shares a similar view of their upcoming match-up with the Buckeyes, touching on the eagerness of the veterans to get on the field and begin playing conference rivals.
""There is a lot of pride when it comes to Big Ten games, especially playing against Ohio State, where we just want to beat them so bad every time, and the underclassmen are starting to realize how much our seniors are looking forward to these first two games,"" she said.
Putting pride and passion aside, Meuer and company understand the quality of the opponents they are up against this weekend and for the next month to follow in Big Ten competition.
""It's a hard-hitting conference. We played Missouri, we played Kentucky and both teams are from different conferences, but in the Big Ten there are big girls, they're strong,"" Meuer said. ""A lot of other teams have skinny little forwards running around, but we have tall, 5'9' forwards with big muscles that weigh like 160.""
The physical nature of play is a recurring theme when sizing up the conference this year which currently has three ranked teams, but the Badgers have talent, athleticism and game plans that can counter even the best the Big Ten has to offer.
""Each one of the Big Ten teams has some personnel that are aggressive in the air, good on special plays, corner kicks, free kicks, throw-ins-most of the teams have that dimension,"" said Head Coach Dean Duerst. ""Also, just the intensity that comes with conference play. It is a good lesson for our players to learn that the intensity raises up a little bit, but we have prepared ourselves for it.\
