Coming off of a disappointing home series last weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s soccer team (1-2-2 overall) is travelling to Chicago for the Chicago South Loop Hotel UIC Soccer Classic this weekend in hopes of turning around their slow start.
The Badgers will face off against Western Illinois (2-3-0) on Friday night and then take on IUPUI (2-5-0) on Sunday morning.
UW’s defense came up short in a 3-1 loss to FIU in the team’s home opener last weekend, but the Badgers were able to fight to a 1-1 tie with No. 13 Georgetown last Sunday.
The Badgers are welcoming several new faces in 2012, 11 in all, including freshman goalkeeper Chase Rau.
Rau, a Sparta, Mich. native, has started four consecutive games this season for the Badgers, and has put up an impressive 1.82 goals against average and has made 11 total saves.
The Badgers are second in the Big Ten in total goals scored so far this season, scoring nine times in the team’s five regular season games.
While the goals are coming, it’s not just one player putting the ball in the net. Eight different players have scored for Wisconsin this season, with junior forward Chris Prince as the only player with more than one goal.
Prince, along with fellow junior Paul Yonga and senior Kyle McCrudden, were named as the captains for Wisconsin this season.
UW enters their game against Western Illinois holding a 8-3-1 advantage in head-to-head games, with the Badgers claiming a 1-0 victory against the Leathernecks last year in Madison. Scoring first will be a key factor in this game, as the last five times these two teams have met resulted in shutouts.
Western Illinois’ offense has gotten off to a slow start this season, having scored just three goals in their first five games. Defense and goaltending has earned the Leathernecks’ their two wins this year, as sophomore goalkeeper Yves Dietrich has a stellar 1.20 goals against average
IUPUI is coming off of 3-0 loss to Wright State and is looking to get back into their winning ways, after dropping five of their last six games.
The Jaguars are lead offensively by senior midfielder Kyle Hyland. The Bay Village, Ohio native has scored four of the team’s seven goals so far this season.
The Badgers and Jaguars have met just four times, drawing even in the all-time series 2-2-0.
Wisconsin will return to Madison next weekend as they host Penn State next Friday.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
