When senior defender B.J. Goodman takes the field Thursday against third-seeded Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament opening clash, he will be mindful that it could be his last game in a Badger jersey.
For Goodman and fellow men's soccer seniors Nick Caronna, Dirk Pearson, Erik Ortega and Sho Fujita, the stakes have never been higher.
My past three years we've gone one [game] and out, so I'm just excited about our momentum going in after a big tie against Indiana,"" Goodman said.
Fortunately, the sixth-seeded Badgers (0-3-3 Big Ten, 6-6-6 overall) have begun to peak again in their past few games after a mid-season dip in form, culminating in Sunday's 0-0 tie with Big Ten regular season champions Indiana, who beat Northwestern 1-0 earlier this season.
Head coach Jeff Rohrman is under no illusions about the mammoth task that awaits the Badgers in the tournament.
""Every team that's there is going in with the belief that they're certainly capable of winning it,"" Rohrman said. ""I think the key is to not look past your most recent opponent. For us, that's Northwestern and we have to focus all our energies into that team and work to earn a result on Thursday.""
The Wildcats (3-2-1 Big Ten, 11-3-3) finished off their Big Ten regular season with a 2-0 win over Michigan State on Oct. 28 and most recently tied UW-Green Bay 1-1 in double overtime on Nov. 3.
They also defeated the Badgers 3-0 when both teams played earlier this season in Evanston, Ill.
But according to Goodman, that result has been banished from mind. ""They put three against us but we're not worried about what happened earlier this year,"" Goodman said. ""We're just going to come out and play our own game.""
The Badgers will be counting on the likes of Goodman and sophomore midfielder Taylor Waspi to put in another strong defensive performance against a talented Northwestern offense.
Waspi shined against Indiana Sunday when deployed at the back alongside freshman defender Cale Cooper, a change from his usual defensive midfield role.
Waspi's energy, tenacity and knack for being in the right place at the right time were aptly displayed when he cleared the ball off the line with a header against the Hoosiers. Expect him to play another significant part in shackling Northwestern.
Rohrman singled out four players - freshmen forwards Piero Bellizi and Matt Eliason, sophomore midfielder Carl Pett and senior midfielder David Roth - as the Wildcats' main offensive threats.
The quartet has combined for a total 17 goals and 21 assists this season. The Badgers should be especially wary of Roth, who scored against them earlier this season.
""[Roth] is a very good left sided player, someone who can beat you with the pass but also beat you with the shot,"" Rohrman said.
Rohrman expects to stick with a similar starting line up previous games. He will have practically a full team at his disposal against the Wildcats, as he welcomes back junior defender Zack Lambo and sophomore midfielder Jon Rzepka from injury.
Only the status of sophomore midfielder Pablo Delgado remains doubtful for the game.
The Badgers will kick off the opening Big Ten Tournament clash at 8 a.m. central time at Old College Field in East Lansing, Mich.
Other tournament games on Thursday are No. 2 seed Ohio State play No. 7 seed Michigan, and No. 4 seed Penn State face No. 5 seed Michigan State. No. 1 seed Indiana received a first-round bye.
The winners of the opening rounds will compete in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 9.
For the five seniors, this will be their last shot at glory. Waspi, for one, is determined to help buck Wisconsin's ""one-and-done"" trend.
""We have good team chemistry now the last couple of games we've been working real good together,"" Waspi said. ""I feel that this is our time. We're going to do good this time. [Northwestern] is not going to beat us again.
