The Wisconsin men's soccer team will travel to San Diego this weekend to participate in a four-team tournament hosted by the University of San Diego and San Diego State University.
The Badgers will play San Diego (2-0) Friday at 9 p.m. central time and then face San Diego State (3-2) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
The University of Pennsylvania rounds out the four-team field, but the Badgers will not face the Quakers.
Wisconsin enters the second weekend of the season with a 1-0-1 record after fighting to a draw with Virginia Tech and winning 1-0 on a dramatic last-second goal against Western Illinois last weekend.
This early in the season, most teams are still trying to find their stride, and the Badgers are no different.
They have generated several very good scoring opportunities, but did not convert until the ninetieth minute of their second game.
Finishing scoring chances will not be the only challenge Wisconsin faces this weekend, as the Badgers have not played on the west coast for the last two years.
""(This weekend) brings a whole new set of challenges, with the travel and different opponents,"" head coach Todd Yeagley said. ""But if they continue to bring the passion, energy and the discipline, we know that we'll create our chances.
Echoing Coach Yeagley's hard-working attitude, senior forward Scott Lorenz made it clear that this is trip is no vacation.
""We don't head out there just to enjoy the warm weather, we're going out there with the purpose of coming out with two victories,"" Lorenz said.
Victories are easier to come by when the team is pouring in goals, but from their first games it's clear that the Badgers feature a stout defense.
They did not allow a goal in either of the first two matches, and senior goalkeeper Alex Horwath posted two shutouts and earned a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award. As a team, Wisconsin limited Western Illinois to two shots on goal.
Senior midfielder Brandon Miller played a big role in that effort, pressuring the ball in the middle of the field and putting pressure on Western's passing efforts.
""It's a team defending thing, that's one of the things coach Yeagley has really preached is team defending and always getting in the right position,"" Miller said. ""I think that's really helped us out.""
Despite the long trip, unfamiliar opponents and threat of emotional drain after such a dramatic win last Sunday, Wisconsin has a chance to go to San Diego and take some positive strides leading up to the beginning of Big Ten play on September 25. The Badgers will open the confrence campaign at home against Indiana. As Scott Lorenz sees it, the Badgers need to work on putting all of the different facets of the game together into one package.
""We're really looking to put a lot behind the net, make it easy on our goal-keeper, Al, so he doesn't have to post a shutout for us to win every game,"" he said.
With the way Horwath and the Badger defense has played through the first two games, an offense that puts a lot behind the net would make this a very dangerous team.
After the weekend road trip, the Badgers will return to Wisconsin and play in the UW-Milwaukee Panther Invitational, where they will face Oakland and UC-Santa Barbara Sept. 18 and 20.
