Badgers look to remain perfect in the Big Ten
October 21, 2011 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 21, 2011
Badgers back on the road
The Badgers (7-5-2, 3-0-0 Big Ten) continue their three-game roadtrip this weekend with a stop in Evanston, Ill. to take on Northwestern (7-4-3, 2-0-1 Big Ten). Wisconsin meets up with the Wildcats at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, in a game that will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
| Game #15 | Wisconsin (7-5-2) at Northwestern(7-4-3) | |
| Date | Sunday, October 23 | 1 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Evanston, Ill. | Lakeside Field |
| Fan Info | Tickets |
| Live Coverage | Live Stats | Big Ten Network |
All-Time Series
Wisconsin vs. Northwestern (25-8-4)
Wisconsin vs. Northwestern in Evanston (12-2-1)
vs. Northwestern
With 25 wins in 37 meetings, Wisconsin dominates the all-time series with Northwestern. It wasn't until their 23rd meeting that Northwestern handed UW its first loss in the series. Northwestern edged Wisconsin, 2-1, in Madison on Oct. 25, 1998, to earn its first victory over the Badgers. Prior to its first loss at the hands of the Wildcats, the Badgers had recorded 19 wins over Northwestern while settling for two draws. Despite Wisconsin's historic success over the Wildcats, UW has dropped four of its last five decisions against Northwestern, including a, 4-3, overtime loss last season in Madison.
In the Big Ten
Wisconsin is 83-69-19 all-time in Big Ten games and 48-55-10 since 1991, the year the Big Ten officially recognized men's soccer. Against current Big Ten opponents, UW holds a record of 73-78-20 in all games played. UW's best record is against Northwestern (25-8-4), while it has fared the worst against Indiana (4-32-5).
B1G streaks
The Badgers' win over Michigan State on Oct. 16 marked their third-straight Big Ten victory. The last time UW opened league play with three consecutive wins was in 1995 when it won its first four league games en route to a Big Ten and NCAA title.
UW has finished with an unblemished Big Ten record twice in its 34-year history. In 1991, the first year the league officially recognized men's soccer, Wisconsin recorded a 5-0-0 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. In 1986 the Badgers finished with a perfect 3-0-0 league record.
Last time out
Battling tough playing conditions, Wisconsin suffered a 2-0 loss at Green Bay. Playing into a strong wind, the Badgers were outshot, 9-0, in the first 45 minutes of play and entered half time down one goal. UW rebounded for seven shots in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome the Phoenix.
Max Jentsch suffered his second loss in net for UW, falling to 5-2-2. Jentsch recorded four saves, all in the first half.
Scouting Northwestern
After starting the season 1-3-1, Northwestern is 6-1-2 in its last nine matches, including a five-game unbeaten streak. The Wildcats are also unbeaten in Big Ten play, posting a 2-0-1 mark in their first three conference matches. The last time NU was unbeaten in its first three Big Ten matches was in 2008 (3-0-0 to start Big Ten play).
Oliver Kupe gave the Wildcats their first-ever win over Penn State in University Park, Pa., as Northwestern defeated the Nittany Lions, 1-0, on Oct. 16. The goal proved to be enough for freshman goalkeeper Tyler Miller and the Northwestern defense. Miller finished with five saves in the contest to earn his seventh shutout of the year.
Northwestern is outscoring opponents, 17-13, and has recorded 154 shots, 38 more than its opponents.
Head coach Tim Lenahan is in his 11th season with the Wildcats. Lenahan has led Northwestern to five NCAA appearances in the last seven years and holds a 226-144-43 career coaching record. He recorded his 100th win at Northwestern in last year's 4-3 overtime victory at Wisconsin.
Who to watch for
Twelve different Wildcats have earned points this year with Oliver Kupe leading the team with 12. Kupe has scored six of Northwestern's 17 goals. Goaltender Tyler Miller has a 7-3-3 record, allowing 10 goals and marking seven shutouts.
Badgers in the polls
For the first time this season, UW received votes in the NSCAA Coaches Poll. The Badgers received three votes, putting them in the 39th spot. Seven of UW's first 13 opponents appear or have received votes in this week's poll, while none of UW's upcoming opponents received a spot in this week's rankings.
UW was selected to the No. 23 spot in the Soccer American Top 25 poll and earned the fifth spot in the NCSAA Great Lake Regional Rankings. Wisconsin's No. 5 ranking is its highest this season. Wisconsin opened the season 10th in the rankings, before falling out of the rankings in the Sept. 27 poll. UW earned the 10th spot in the Oct. 4 poll and moved to sixth in the Oct. 11 poll.
RPI rankings -- as of Oct. 18, 2011
Wisconsin ranks 22nd in the first RPI rankings of the season. The Badgers are three spots behind No. 19 Indiana, the only other Big Ten school in the top 25. UW past opponents, Creighton, UC Irvine and Virginia rank third, fourth and 15th, respectively. Seven of Wisconsin's 14 opponents rank in the top-50.
NSCAA Coaches Poll -- Oct. 18, 2011
No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 North Carolina and No. 3 Maryland all held on to their spots in this week's NSCAA Coaches Poll. Creighton dropped to the No. 6 spot with its second loss of the season, while Indiana moved up from the 18th spot to No. 13. UW is the only other Big Ten team mentioned in the week's poll as the Badgers received three votes.
Around the league -- as of Oct. 20, 2011
Wisconsin sits atop the Big Ten with a 3-0-0 record in conference play and nine points. Northwestern is in second with a record of 2-0-1 and seven points. Indiana and Ohio State are tied for third with six points and a 2-1-0 record, while Michigan State, Michigan and Penn State round out the bottom of the league.
Indiana leads the league with nine overall wins. The No. 13-ranked Hoosiers are the only Big Ten team in this week's NCSAA Coaches Poll. Wisconsin, Northwestern, Ohio State and Penn State all have seven wins, while Michigan State and Michigan are the only teams below .500.
Big Ten dribbles ...
Indiana leads the league in goals (26), assists (26) and points (78) ... Michigan has recorded 269 shots, while UW has 147 ... Penn State has nine shutouts ... Ohio State has scored seven goals in Big Ten action, while Penn State has only scored one ... Wisconsin has only allowed one goal in league play ... OSU's Chris Hegngi leads the league in goals (3) and points (8) in Big Ten games ... UW's Max Jentsch leads the league with two shutouts in Big Ten play and a 0.33 goals against average
B1G openers
On Sunday, Oct. 2, the Badgers won their first Big Ten opener since the 2006 season when they beat Michigan, 2-1, in overtime in Madison. UW is 9-9-2 in Big Ten openers since 1991. The Badgers went 7-0-0 in Big Ten openers from 1991-1997.
More points please
In 14 games played this season, the Badgers have scored 58 points, seven more than all of 2010. Ten members of the team have scored a point this season, while Tomislav Zadro leads the team with 15.
Zadro helps out
Tomislav Zadro's seven assists are tied for eighth-best in Division I and lead the Big Ten. He is one assist away from earning a spot on the UW single-season record list.
Wednesday workouts
The Badgers suffered a 2-0 loss to the Green Bay Phoenix on Oct. 19, dropping to 0-2-1 in midweek games. Wisconsin and Marquette played to a, 1-1, double overtime draw in the Badgers' first midweek game of the year on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and the Badgers fell, 2-1, to Creighton on Wednesday, Oct. 5. UW wraps up its midweek schedule on Oct. 26 when it travels to Milwaukee for its final non-conference game of the season.
Last year, the Badgers saw three of their four Wednesday games go into overtime, finishing 1-2-0 in in those games. UW ended the 2010 season 2-2-0 in Wednesday games, with all four midweek matchups played in Madison.
In-state rivalries
Wisconsin came up short in its quest for a win in Green Bay, falling to the Phoenix, 2-0, on Oct. 19. The Badgers haven't recorded a win in Green Bay since the 2004 season, when they topped the Phoenix, 4-1. Wisconsin battled in-state rival Marquette to a 1-1 draw when the Golden Eagles visited Madison earlier this season on Sept. 28. UW wraps up its in-state tour on Wednesday, Oct. 26 when it travels to Milwaukee.
Sunday Success
After recording two losses and one draw in their first three Sunday contests of the season, the Badgers have now won their last four Sunday competitions. UW's most quality Sunday victory came on Oct. 2 when they handed then-No. 6 Indiana its first loss of the season. This past Sunday, Wisconsin continued its success with a 1-0 win over Michigan State in Madison.
Streaking
The Badgers put together a five-game unbeaten streak from Sept. 16-Oct. 2. On Sept. 16, in Max Jentsch's first start in goal, UW defeated Drake, 3-1. The Badgers then went on to tie SIUE (Sept. 18), defeat Loyola Marymount (Sept. 25), tie Marquette (Sept. 28) and defeat Indiana (Oct. 2). An overtime loss to then-No. 5 Creighton (Oct. 5) ended UW's run.
The unbeaten streak was UW's longest since the 2008 season, when the Badgers started the season 4-0-1 before falling to Binghamton in the sixth game of the season.
Big Ten accolades
Max Jentsch earned his second Big Ten weekly award this week for his performance in Wisconsin's 1-0 shutout victory over Michigan State on Sunday. The sophomore goalkeeper was named Co-Defensive Player of the Week in the Big Ten after recording his second shutout in league play this season. Jentsch is now 5-1-2 in goal for UW.
Jentsch earned his first weekly award of the season for his shutout performance in the Badgers' win over Indiana on Oct. 2. Jentsch blocked a penalty kick from Indiana's Harrison Petts to preserve the shutout.
Nick Janus also earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after his performance in Wisconsin's win over then-No. 6 Indiana. Janus earned Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring three points in the game. The award was the first of Janus' career.
Junior Kyle McCrudden earned Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors after his performance against Western Illinois on Aug. 29. McCrudden's game-winning goal in the 68th minute was his first game-winner and second career goal at UW.
National accolades
Nick Janus was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week, CS360 Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll and selected to Soccer America Men's Team of the Week after leading unranked Wisconsin to a stunning upset over No. 6 Indiana on Oct. 2. Janus earned the assist on the game-winning goal, before adding an insurance goal late in the game. He earned three points in the game and is now fourth on the team with six points.
All-Tournament honors
Freshman AJ Cochran sophomore Paul Yonga and Tomislav Zadro were named to the UIC Soccer Classic All-Tournament team. Zadro earned three points with one goal and one assist, while Yonga and Cochran's defensive performance helped the Badgers finish the tournament unbeaten.
Zadro's all-tournament honors at UIC were his second of the season as he, senior Josh Thiermann and sophomore Blake Succa were named to the all-tournament team at the Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Va. Thiermann led Wisconsin with two goals, while Zadro earned his first point of the season with an assist.
Badger captains
Seniors Colin Mani, Arnel Zahirovic and Josh Thiermann are serving as captains for the 2011 season. Thiermann will be making his first appearance on the field for the Badgers after playing three seasons at Notre Dame. Mani has seen action in 38 games for the Badgers, including appearances in 16 games a year ago. Zahirovic appeared in 19 games in 2010 with 18 starts after transferring from Illinois Central College following the 2009 season.
Network connection
The Badgers' game against Northwestern on Oct. 23 will be shown live on the Big Ten Network.
