Hoosiers to face off against Northwestern, Wisconsin

The women's soccer team will start its Big Ten schedule Friday as they play Northwestern and conclude the road trip at No. 23 Wisconsin Sunday. \nThe team is also playing its first game since a 1-0 overtime win over Xavier Sept. 9. The Hoosiers went 3-1 in their non-conference games, and are currently ranked No. 10 by Soccer Buzz Magazine for the Great Lakes Region.\nLast year, the Hoosiers went 1-8-1 in conference play. IU is 5-4 overall against Northwestern but have gone 3-1 at Lakeside Field. IU is 4-5-1 all time against the Badgers, going 2-2-1 at Madison's McClimon Complex.\nSophomore goalie Shaunna Daugherty, who grew up in Aurora, Ill., near Northwestern, is having a successful start to her season. Her goals against average of 0.47 leads the Big Ten and she already has three shutouts in four games.\nIU enters the weekend in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Wisconsin for first place in the conference. The Hoosiers have never won a regular season conference title in their eight-year history.\n"I am very happy with our team right now. They train hard," coach Joe Kelley said. "They learn things everyday. They really do. I like the confidence in themselves and in their teammates."\nSophomore back Carly Everett said she is excited to get the conference games under way. \n"Last year at he end of the season we were pushing to win after losing early in the season. We don't want that this year," she said. "We want to win early in the season so that we can relax, have fun and focus on winning."\nThis season the Hoosiers have only permitted one goal, but Everett says to be successful with weekend depends on the offense and defense working as a cohesive unit.\n"As defenders we have to be on our toes," she said. "We can't let them get anything, and we have to get the offense the ball, and they have to score when they get it. We need to play as a team, not as an offense and a defense."\nAs for the team's focus this week, Everett said it has to take the games one at a time. \n"Northwestern beat us last year 1-0. It would be nice to beat them and great to get the weekend started with a win," she said. \nShe also said she would consider it an upset if the Hoosiers beat the Badgers, who she hears are a very difficult team to beat at home. \nLast year, Wisconsin won 2-1 in double overtime in Bloomington.\nDaugherty, who has already surpassed her win total from last year, said she is excited for the weekend. \n"Seeing as though our record wasn't very good last season, we have a lot to prove," she said. "We played (Northwestern) this spring and we beat them. (Wisconsin) tied Notre Dame and we took them to over-time. We feel we can come away from this weekend with two victories." \nDaugherty said she is optimistic that this team is going to be able to compete at a high level this weekend and contend for a conference championship.\n"It's going to be exciting. I know a lot people on the team," Daugherty said. "It's always fun to play against people you know. It\'s going to be great to go back."\nKelley wouldn't offer any predictions for this weekends games.\n"In the Big Ten, it's hard to tell how you match up with teams until game time, really," Kelley said.