WESTFIELD, Ind. – The No. 18 Wisconsin men's soccer team (11-4-4 overall, 4-2-2 Big Ten) couldn't quite get over the hump against Maryland (19-0-2, 7-0-1), the No. 1-ranked team in the country, in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament. In a game of back-and-forth, the Badgers fell 2-1 at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana on Sunday afternoon.
 
"Great effort from the guys, really proud of the team," head coach John Trask. "Congratulations to the Maryland team and their staff to go undefeated in the regular season. They're an excellent team."

Seemingly synonymous with the first whistle, Maryland netted a score off their first attack and put the Badgers in a hole from the start. The Terps sent a long ball through the gap to DJ Reeves, who earned his first career start that day, that beat the last Wisconsin defender and Reeves did the rest, dancing around Schilling to put the score at 1-0.
 
The Badgers had an answer 10 minutes later.
 
In the 12th minute of play, junior Christopher Mueller bent a lobbed ball through two defenders and right onto fellow junior Tom Barlow's feet. Barlow took one touch before sending the ball to the corner of the net for the Badger equalizer. The goal was Barlow's fifth of the season and 13th of his career. It was Mueller's 11th assist of the year. Freshman Noah Leibold was also credited with the assist, his second of the season.
 
Play was quiet on the Badgers' end of the field until the 42nd minute when Maryland was awarded a corner. Maryland's Jorge Calix sent a ball to the near post that was flicked to the opposite post by Sebastian Elney for the Maryland score and the 2-1 advantage.
 
The first minutes of the second half were slow and sloppy, but both teams adjusted to play as the half ticked on.
 
The Badgers had plenty of chances on the Maryland net in the second half, including two efforts from junior Mike Catalano that were saved by the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, Cody Niedermeier.
 
Neither team was successful in getting a second-half goal and the game concluded in favor of the Terps, 2-1.
 
Statistics were similar for the two teams, speaking to the evenness of the two Big Ten teams. Maryland led shots 13-11 while the Badgers won shots on frame 8-7.
 
It was a stellar day for junior Tom Barlow who nearly matched his season high (5) with a game-high four shots.

"He's been a force all season long. He finished the chance he got today," Trask said. "He had another chance with the header that the goalkeeper made a great save on. With a little more luck or whatever you want to call it, he could have easily had a hat trick on the day. It was great to see that performance out of Tommy. Congrats to Tommy and Philipp to being named to the All-tournament team"
 
Junior Philipp Schilling got the start in net for the Badgers and played a terrific match, tallying five saves on the day. In his best save of the day, Schilling handled a low rocket from Maryland that was going towards the bottom frame in the 57th minute.
 
Wisconsin now turns its focus to an NCAA tournament bid. The NCAA tournament selection show is set to stream live tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT and can be watched for free on www.NCAA.com.

"Hopefully, this team will have a chance to take the field again. There are no guarantees with where we sit but we are hopeful that the NCAA will look at this performance and all that we've done in the last half of the season," Trask finished.