The Badgers may have lost consecutive home games, but the men in cardinal and white enter Sunday's Big Ten opener with a two-game winning streak in regular season conference play.
In 2005, UW dropped its first four Big Ten contests losing twice in overtime. Yet the Badgers regrouped and finished the season with back-to-back victories over Michigan State and Northwestern.
As Wisconsin kicks off its 2006 Big Ten campaign against the Michigan Wolverines, head coach Jeff Rohrman will be counting on his seniors to take charge.
""We've been through the Big Ten plenty of times, and we all know what it takes to do well in the Big Ten season,"" said senior co-captain Hamid Afsari. ""We know how to keep our heads after a win or how we need to rebound after a loss.""
The Badgers have the talent to improve on last season's 2-4 conference mark, but a rocky road lies ahead.
After battling the Wolverines, UW will travel to East Lansing, Mich., to take on a Spartan team looking for revenge.
The Badgers' toughest stretch may come in October when they face Ohio State and Penn State on back-to-back weekends. The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships in 2005 posting an 8-0 record against conference foes. The Buckeyes finished second with a 3-2-1 conference mark.
UW will close out the conference regular season at Indiana, a team that entered the season No. 12 in the NSCAA/addidas National Rankings. The Hoosiers are used to being a favorite to win the Big Ten each and every year,
Despite the tough competition, Afsari believes the Badgers can challenge the top teams for the Big Ten crown.
""As long as we play the way we know we can play every game, we'll compete with all of them and hopefully end up at the top,"" Afsari said.
The Badgers have played top-notch non-conference opponents, but according to senior goalkeeper Jake Settle, the Big Ten rivalries create a much different atmosphere.
""In the non-conference games the tackles aren't always quite as hard, there's less lipping-off, the fans are nicer,"" Settle said. ""Everything is harder [in the Big Ten]. Everybody hates each other.""
Both Afsari and Settle agreed that the conference games carry much more weight than games the non-conference contests.
""It's a different kind of experience,"" Settle said. ""You only get six of them so you have to win them.""
In 2005, the Wolverines and Badgers tied for fifth place in the conference. Michigan prevailed 4-2 in the teams' lone match a year ago, despite 17 shots by UW. The loss still haunts Settle.
""It was a nightmare,"" he said. ""I'm looking forward to having a little bit better showing against them because I played terrible.""
The hungry Badgers will take on the Wolverines Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the McClimon Soccer Complex, giving Settle an early opportunity for redemption.
""We're a lot better than we showed against them last year,"" Settle said. ""It's a big-time revenge game.""
