The Badgers men's soccer team (1-6-1) opens up Big Ten play this weekend against Indiana University (5-3-0). It may just be by some bizarre twist of fate that Wisconsin would open Big Ten play against Indiana, but whatever the reason, this match should prove to be entertaining.
This past offseason, Wisconsin and Indiana played a game of coach swap. Former Badger coach Todd Yeagley left to take over as head coach for Indiana. At the same time, former Indiana head coach John Trask left to fill the vacancy in Wisconsin. The outcome of all this; both Trask and Yeagley will be facing their former teams as the Badgers roll into Bloomington.
""It gives us a little extra motivation to put on a good performance,"" said redshirt senior goalkeeper Ryan Vint on facing Yeagley. ""It's going to be fun.""
The general feeling towards this weekend's match among player is excitement. Excitement to open Big Ten play, and excitement to face their former coach and prove that they can win.
""I've been excited,"" said redshirt senior midfielder Jon Rzepka. ""It's a game that I really want to win. I'd love to score the game winning goal against him.""
Even with the extra emotions attached to this game, the Badgers are putting more focus on their team play and individual play and taking the attention off Yeagley. Returning to practice on Wednesday after taking a tough loss at Marquette, the Wisconsin men took part in light training so not to over exert themselves.
""We're trying to save up our energy for this weekend,"" said Vint. ""We're doing drills that involve concentration and getting touches on the ball.""
Going into Big Ten play, the Badgers record stands as 1-6-1, a record that is certainly not what the players and coaches expected. Coach Trask has looked beyond the numbers, citing that his team has made much improvement this season.
""I would rather be 1-6-1 where we are right now having made the strides we have, then sitting at 3-3-2 and really not having improved at all,"" said Trask.
Contributing to this improvement on the field has come from the team gaining more experience. The Badgers lost 9 seniors last offseason, with 8 of them being regular starters. That being said, the lack of experience was not only in the incoming freshmen, but also in the returning players who did not see much game time in the past.
""It's not just the inexperience of the freshmen, all the returning player were reserve players that didn't play a lot of minutes,"" Trask said.
Despite this inexperience on the field, Wisconsin play has improved greatly this season. Making strides both individually and collectively, Trask likes where his team is sitting at this point.
""I told the guys I thought by October 1st we could become a pretty decent team,"" said Trask. ""I really felt that we surpassed that.""
