Following a successful showing in Milwaukee last weekend, the UW men's soccer team looks to bring its impressive play home as it hosts the Middleton Cycle and Fitness Invitational this weekend.
Riding a season high 3-game win streak, the Badgers will face the No. 6 Washington Huskies on Friday at the McClimon Soccer Complex. After taking Saturday off, they take on Creighton on Sunday afternoon.
The Badgers won the Panther Classic last weekend, outscoring opponents 8-0, including a 7-0 shellacking of Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne. Wisconsin is currently playing nearly perfect soccer, as they haven't allowed a goal in 270 minutes of soccer with senior goalkeeper Jake Settle accounting for more than 240 of those minutes. Settle also earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his recent performances.
Over the last three games, Four Badgers have scored two or more goals. Sophomore forward Victor Diaz notched a hat trick against IPFW and took the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors. Sophomore midfielder Zack Lambo has already doubled his scoring total from 2005 by notching two goals, including the game winner against Lipscomb last weekend. Redshirt freshman forward Eric Conklin also has two goals this season. Freshman forward Brian Bultman has only seen action in one game, but made the most of his limited minutes as he tallied his three goals in the second half of the IPFW game.
The Badgers will hope the scoring continues this weekend as they look to avenge a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Huskies from last season. Washington brings a perfect 3-0 record. The Huskies have outscored opponents 10-1 this season and have their own pair of conference players of the week to match UW's Settle and Diaz. Junior forward Kevin Forrest has tallied five goals in just three games and forward Ely Allen has scored two goals in three games.
Creighton enters the weekend with a 1-2-1 record, but its record is deceiving. The Bluejays opened the season against Indiana and Notre Dame, both nationally ranked teams. Creighton lost a heartbreaker to Indiana in a double overtime then two days later suffered a 4-1 loss to Notre Dame. Last weekend, Creighton went to overtime in both of its games, resulting in an 3-2 win over Georgetown and a 0-0 draw with Fairleigh Dickinson. Creighton also brings a conference honoree to Madison this weekend as redshirt freshman Chris Schuler was recently named Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
The tournament begins Friday with the opening match between Creighton and UWM at 5 p.m. followed by the battle of the UW's at 7 p.m.. Then on Sunday, the Badgers and Bluejays are set to clash at 2:30 p.m.
