After an upsetting 3-0 loss against Illinois Sunday, the Wisconsin women's soccer team (1-4 Big Ten, 5-7-1 overall) is gearing up for its trip to the state of Michigan this weekend.
The Badgers will be challenging Michigan State (0-6 Big Ten, 6-8-1 overall), a team that is looking to end their six game losing streak on Friday night, followed by a game against Michigan (0-4-2 Big Ten, 3-9-3 overall) Sunday afternoon.
It's going to take a group effort this week,"" head coach Paula Wilkins said. ""We're looking to get into the Big Ten tournament and I said to these guys they need to play like every game is their last. We got to take it one game at a time.""
Although neither the Spartans nor the Wolverines has claimed a win in the Big Ten, Wisconsin has only come up with one conference victory, which was decided last Sunday against Ohio State.
Wilkins believes her team will be well prepared for the weekend, just as long as they keep their focus and do not make the same mistakes they did against Illinois.
""We just weren't very organized,"" Wilkins said about Wisconsin's game against the Fighting Illini. ""We could have gotten a better result if some of the details could have been taken care of and that's stuff that is going to be really important along the way.""
Even though neither Michigan team has had a strong showing in the Big Ten yet this season, neither team can be taken lightly. Wilkins said all Big Ten teams have a lot to offer this season and the teams will ""beat each other up"" during conference play.
""I've been in the Big Ten for a long time and they are well organized teams all of the time and very competitive and it's very difficult to play at both Michigan and Michigan State,"" Wilkins said. ""For the 13 years that I've been in the Big Ten, it has always been difficult to go into both those places, so we are going to have to play very well to get a [good] result.""
Wisconsin's junior forwards Tricia Krombach and Taylor Walsh have been showing great offensive leadership so far this season. Krombach had two goals last week Thursday against Loyola. Yet, both she and Walsh struggled to put the ball in the back of the net against Illinois.
""I think as long as we work together as a team and the team can come together, I think we have no reason to not be confident,"" Krombach said.
After these two games in Michigan this weekend, the Badgers will have three Big Ten conference games left prior to the Big Ten tournament. Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern are the three teams currently ranked above Wisconsin in conference standings.
Iowa and Minnesota both have two wins in the Big Ten, and Northwestern, like Wisconsin, only has one. The last few weeks of play puts pressure on teams in the middle of the pack as postseason tournament spots are still up for grabs.
""Obviously if we win both games this weekend, it will keep our hopes alive to get into the Big Ten tournament,"" Krombach said. ""We have to win out the rest of the five games that we have left, so these two games we have coming up are pretty critical for us.""
