Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/156411
T o say the 2012 Wisconsin women's soccer team is youthful would be an understatement in some respects. True, the Badgers boast two seniors on their 2013 roster, the fewest of any Big Ten squad. And both those upperclassmen, Alev Kelter and Nicole La Petina, also never saw the field for the Badgers in 2012. Kelter concluded her final year of eligibility as a member of the UW women's hockey team last year, while La Petina was recovering from an injury that sat her out for the entire season. Still, despite the lack of on-field experience from her veterans, UW head coach Paula Wilkins is confident in her team's abilities. "One of the bigger differences is that we have some dynamic attacking personalities this season that can really open up the field and be an exciting group," Wilkins said. "In the past, we've hung our hats on being good defensively and I believe we're going to do that again this year. "However, I think the talent we possess up front will add a different component to our program and makes us much more versatile." One particular player who has added to that versatility up front is freshman forward Rose Lavelle. After spending most of the summer training with the U.S. U20 women's national team, the Ohio native finally made it to campus on Aug. 13, just two days before the Badgers' first exhibition match of the season and an entire week after UW began preseason practice. Shortly after inking the recruiting class of 2013, Wilkins, who has coached nine All-Americans and one M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner, lauded the group as one of the top five classes she's recruited in 12 years as a head coach. Lavelle is one of the primary rea- 48 // VARSITY August 22, 2013 sons Wilkins can so confidently make that statement. It became apparent to those who witnessed Lavelle's Badgers debut against 14th-ranked Marquette in an exhibition on Aug. 15. Lavelle, who was fresh off of a plane from Los Angeles just two days earlier, displayed the confidence and tactical skills of an upperclassman while showing off the ability to create scoring opportunities not only for herself but for her teammates. Behind a goal and an assist from Lavelle, the Badgers, who were picked to finish fifth in the conference by the Big Ten coaches, had a top-15 team and the defending Big East regular-season champs on the ropes with a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of action. Lavelle headlines a laundry list of decorated players who make up Wisconsin's crop of newcomers. But aside from the accolades, it is their energy and thirst for knowledge that has impressed Wilkins, a five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, the most. "Their energy level is tremendous," Wilkins said. "I don't think they've lowered the intensity level during one training session this preseason. "I've challenged them a little in terms of asking them to do different things and, as a result, they're further along tactically than we've been in the past couple of years. "They're excited about what they can do and they're thinking about the game in different ways, which hadn't been such a focus for these guys in the past, so they're adding their own wrinkles to what's already in place, too." With their 2013 season opener looming, one question remains: Who will be the unsung leader for the Badgers this season? Wilkins sees it as a collective effort rather than a case of a single player taking the reins. "For us to have a suc-