As the saying goes, a tie is like kissing your sister. If that is the case, the UW men's soccer team has been doing a little too much kissing as of late.
Coming off back-to-back draws with UW-Milwaukee and Michigan State, the Badgers enter tonight's match-up with University of Illinois-Chicago needing a win. Unfortunately for Bucky, UIC (7-0-2, 1-0-0) comes into tonight's match ranked No. 7 and unbeaten in its first nine games.
That being said, UW (4-3-2 overall, 1-0-1 Big Ten) needs to have one of its best performances all season if it plans on ending UIC's current unbeaten streak.
Head coach Jeff Rohrman said, ""We just need to have a little more concentration, a little more focus around the box, maybe even be a little bit more selfish with regards to making runs and passes. We're certainly a good possession team and we just will need to put the icing on the cake in terms of showing that on the scoreboard. ""
Rohrman continued, ""[We're] excited about the opportunity. We know [UIC] is a good side but we've played some good teams up to this point. Being from Chicago and having some guys from Chicago, there's a little bit more in this one as far as bragging rights.""
Senior defenseman and captain Aaron Holhbein echoed Rohrman's sentiments. ""We're just excited. It's a good opportunity to play a high quality team outside of our conference and we're just excited for it.""
While the Badgers have relied on a strong defensive presence much of the season, the Flames bring to Madison a bevy of offensive threats including Eric Cervantes, who was given Horizon League Player of the Week honors and named to the Top Drawer Soccer College Team of the Week for his 5-point performance in UIC's Horizon league opener against Detroit. Wisconsin's defense will need to shut down Cervantes as well as Tonci Skroce and Cesar Zambrano, all who have tallied four goals this season.
As Rohrman stated, ""Their front six are very very good. It's going to take a very good defensive effort to shut them down. We have to know that when passes are made we'll have to step up. They are very skillful, very creative. They play with a lot of flair and build off one another and I know they are good in the air. ""
Holhbein was quick to note that while UIC may have a potent offense, solid defending can shut down their potency. ""We just have to be conscious of who their main guys are. With good communication and work ethic, I think we can step up and shut down their offense. We're not going to do anything special against those guys. We are just going to have to be sharp and on task.""
While good communication and work ethic will come into play, Wisconsin is currently riding its own streak that may affect the desired outcome. Entering tonight's game, the Badgers have played four straight overtime games, and those extra minutes could prove costly against such a high-powered offense like the Flames.
Holhbein maintains that the excitement of playing such a strong opponent is enough to rejuvinate the team. Senior goalkeeper Jake Settle experiences a different type of fatigue than the other guys.
""As the goalie, it's not that I get physically fatigued, but sometimes I have to deal with not doing anything for extended periods of time, literally standing and watching the play ahead of me,"" he said. ""That's when I start cheerleading, not only to keep me sharp but to get the other guys involved too.""
He continued, ""At the end of the game, I put on my cheerleader skirt and start cheering, trying to keep everybody focused. From what I see, UIC likes to strike the ball from anywhere, so it's my job not to get caught flat-footed and give up a cheap one from 40 yards out.""
Settle summed tonight's match-up best when he said, ""The best thing about beating an unbeaten team is that after you beat them, they aren't unbeaten anymore.""
While the statement is correct, Settle and company will need to play an inspired match if they have any hopes of tarnishing UIC's perfect record.
