Wisconsin Badgers
UIC
Five things to know: Wisconsin puts on its dancing shoes
November 14, 2017 | Men's Soccer
The Badgers face Illinois-Chicago in first round of NCAA tournament
Wisconsin
10 – 4 – 5
UIC
11 – 5– 3
Game Coverage
Thursday, Nov. 16 | 7pm — Madison, Wis.
MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin men's soccer (10-4-5 overall, 4-3-1 Big Ten) hosts the biggest match of its season at home on Thursday against the University of Illinois-Chicago (11-5-3, 6-2-1 Horizon League). The match will be played at 7 p.m. (CT) at the McClimon Soccer Complex. Live statistics will be available on UWBadgers.com and live updates will be posted to Twitter (@BadgerMSoccer). Details for the live stream will be announced later in the week.
1. LAST TIME OUT: Wisconsin's magical run in the Big Ten tournament was capped off with a storybook ending. The Badgers hoisted the trophy thanks to a penalty-kick shootout win over Indiana to earn the program's first outright Big Ten tournament title.
2. BIG TIME IN THE BIG TEN: The Badger's championship ring didn't come easy. It came through hard-fought wins against exceptional competition in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Wisconsin exacted revenge on perennial powerhouse Maryland in the quarterfinal, 2-1. There was no stopping the Cardinal and White after its first-round success, as they rolled into the semifinal with a head of steam and pounded No. 1-seeded Michigan, 4-0, en route to the Big Ten Championship game.
3. SCOUTING ILLINOIS-CHICAGO: The Flames are on fire. Illinois-Chicago has won its last six games, including an impressive performance in the Horizon League tournament. UIC dominated Cleveland State in the first round of the tournament, 3-1, before continuing onto the Horizon League Championship against Wisconsin's in-state rival, Green Bay. The Flames played their best soccer at a good time, shutting out the top-seeded Phoenix, 2-0, to claim the hardware. UIC has also faced a familiar fellow Big Ten school, Northwestern, and lost, 1-0.
4. WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?: The Badgers are hunting for revenge against the Flames after losing an exhibition match in August, 1-0. Despite Wisconsin's young lineup for the match, the game was an even affair. UIC outshot Wisconsin 8-5 and 3-1 on corner kicks, while the Badgers were heavily favored in possession. UW leads the all-time series with the Flames, 5-2-0, with their last official meeting in 2010. In that span, UW has made 11 goals and allowed 10 by UIC. Wisconsin is also 3-1-0 against UIC at the McClimon Complex. The Badgers have won five of the last six against the Flames, including three wins in Madison.
5. SHINING THE SHOES: Thanks to their conference championship victory, the Badgers have secured the Big Ten's automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA men's soccer tournament, which marks Wisconsin's seventh NCAA tournament appearance and its first since 2013. The last time the Badgers won the Big Ten Tournament was also the year they clinched the program's only national championship in 1995.
BONUS: Head coach John Trask was at the helm of the UIC program from 2005-2009, where he won the 2006 and 2008 Horizon League regular seasons and the 2007 Horizon League Tournament. Over that span, Trask's teams posted a record of 38-13-17 (.648) -- including an amazing 8-2-1 mark in road games against ranked opponents.
He earned Horizon League Coach of the Year honors after leading the Flames to a regular-season conference title and berth in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2006, a season in which UIC went 13-3 -5 and finished with a stellar 0.36 goals-against average that ranks as the fourth-best single-season mark in NCAA history. Trask brought current Flames coach Sean Phillips to the program as an assistant and was also responsible for the hiring of assistant coaches Aleksey Korol and Minos Vlamakis.
