After the men’s soccer team concluded practice Tuesday, head coach Steve Simmons asked his players to re-read a set of athletic goals they came up with during the preseason.

About a month into the season, the Huskies are at a point where Simmons wants the team to reflect upon those goals, something he calls getting re-centered.

“Sometimes you kinda just forget about some of those little details. You know them, but you just forget about them,” Simmons said. “Getting re-centered is critical at times.”

The Huskies (2-3-3) are picking a good time to re-center. They head to Madison today for a match with Wisconsin. The Badgers always field a competitive team, and though they aren’t ranked in College Soccer News’ latest poll, they did receive votes.

Last season, the Huskies beat the Badgers 1-0 on a Marcus McCarty overtime goal.

“We’ve done pretty well against Wisconsin,” Simmons said. “I think just like every other scenario, we’re just looking for the opportunity.”

McCarty remembers the match as one that couldn’t have ended any other way.

“We won, and that was the most important thing,” he said. “It was such a tight game, it had to be something like that to end the game. We were proud of that.”

“But that was last year, and we can’t look at that. We’ve got to look at this year. Just put all that stuff behind us and focus on this year.”

The things Simmons and the team were doing more than anything to prepare for the Badgers had little to do with soccer. The Huskies only had three days in between games instead of the usual five.

“You’re looking at a short turnaround time,” he said. “We paid particular attention to rest and recharging. We just want our guys to stay physically sharp.”

Staying physically as well as mentally sharp will be key for the Huskies’ success as they prepare for the start of MAC play. McCarty believes staying mentally focused against Wisconsin will be important.

“Wisconsin’s been good, and they are good,” he said. “If we don’t stay mentally sharp, they could get us just like Gonzaga got us. We’ve just got to stay mentally sharp and the rest will take care of itself.”