Five Things to Know: Badgers head to Michigan for pair of road matches

Wisconsin Badgers' Emma Jasckaniec Midfielder/Forward (2) during an NCAA women’s soccer match against Notre Dame on Thursday August 26, 2021 in Madison, Wisconsin.Photo by Tom Lynn/Wisconsin Athletic Communications

Photo by: Tom Lynn

Five Things to Know: Badgers head to Michigan for pair of road matches

September 20, 2021 | Women's Soccer

UW faces Michigan State on Thursday before taking on Michigan Sunday

By: AJ Harrison

MADISON, Wis. – Fresh after winning its Big Ten Conference opener, the Wisconsin women's soccer team continues its road swing with a trip to the Great Lakes State to take on Michigan State and Michigan. UW and MSU meet on Thursday night in a 6 p.m. CT contest and the Badgers face the Wolverines on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.

Both games this weekend can be seen live on B1G+ while live stats will be available on UWBadgers.Com.

1. LAST TIME OUT: UW is coming off of a thrilling 2-1 win at Minnesota on Saturday night. The Badgers handed the Golden Gophers their first loss of the year and also became the first team to score on UM as Emma Jaskaniec tied the game at 1-1 midway through the first half before Jenna Kiraly scored the game-winning goal in the final 10 minutes of play. The win extended UW's unbeaten streak to 10 games against the Golden Gophers.

2. ON A ROLL: The Badgers are on a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) and have a flair for the drama during the run. Four of the six games have gone into OT, with the Badgers earning a pair of OT triumphs in the process. The six-game unbeaten run is the longest since the 2019 season when UW had a 11-game unbeaten run en route to winning the Big Ten regular-season title.

3. MICHIGANDERS RETURN: This weekend's trip to Michigan will be a homecoming for several Badgers as UW has six players from the state in senior Natalie Viggiano, junior Izzy Verdugo, sophomore Sophia Romine and freshmen Aidan McConnell, Maia Richters and Joyelle Washington.

4. AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: UW leads the all-time series against Michigan State 29-4-2 and has won its last 11 games against MSU. The Badgers haven't faced the Spartans since the 2018 season and only Lauren Rice, Maia Cella, Jordyn Bloomer, Cammie Murtha and Natalie Viggiano have experience playing Michigan State.

UW leads its series against Michigan 14-13-6 and has won the last two games in the series. Emma Jaskaniec scored the game-wining goal in a 1-0 win last spring against the ranked Wolverines.

5. READY FOR THE HOME STRETCH: Following its three-game road swing, UW will return to the McClimon Soccer Complex, where it will play six of its final eight regular-season Big Ten Conference contests. UW will face Penn State on Thursday, Sept. 30 in a nationally televised game on BTN before welcoming Purdue to Madison on Sunday, Oct. 3 for a 2:30 p.m. contest. Sunday's game vs. Purdue will be the program's "Pac the Mac" game and UW will also celebrate it's alumni during halftime.