The Wisconsin women's soccer team (0-1-1) will be playing their first regular season games at home this weekend in the fourth annual Wisconsin Invitational Tournament, hosting UC-Santa Barbara tonight and Boston University Sunday afternoon.
The Badgers are hoping for their first win of the season and believe the home field advantage will come in handy against both talented teams.
First year head coach Paula Wilkins believes her team will be prepared for the tournament this weekend, but she is also aware that both UCSB and BU are very well-organized and well-coached.
I think every game you get to be at home, it's very exciting but very important to protect your turf in front of your home crowd,"" Wilkins said. ""I believe BU is being recognized nationally and is very competitive, and UCSB is a young team that has gotten better and better, and is a huge threat to being very successful.""
Wisconsin's junior goalkeeper Jamie Klages, a transfer from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, grew up in San Diego and is well acquainted with most of the Santa Barbara team. In addition, Santa Barbara's goalie is also a transfer from Nebraska-Lincoln and was a teammate of Klages' at the collegiate level.
Klages said, ""I played with most of the Santa Barbara team in the past, so it will be fun to see those girls. They are a very skilled team but I think that our aggressiveness will rough them up a bit.""
Tonight's game against UCSB will kick-off at 7 p.m., and Sunday's game will begin at 2 p.m.
The tournament will be held at the McClimon Soccer Complex and UW-Milwaukee will also compete in the tournament.
