Wisconsin Badgers

Through his 11 seasons as head coach, John Trask has revived the Wisconsin men's soccer program with the enthusiasm that once made the program a perennial Big Ten and NCAA title contender.

A fixture at the highest levels of national and international soccer for nearly two decades, Trask came to Wisconsin in 2010 with the goal of returning the program to the elite ranks of college soccer. He delivered on that promise in just his fourth year, guiding Wisconsin in 2013 to its first NCAA tournament berth in 18 years and its first postseason win since its national title team in 1995.

In the process, Trask also helped the Badgers extend what at that time was the longest home unbeaten streak in the country (14), including UW defeating Milwaukee in the first NCAA tournament men's soccer game played at the McClimon Complex in nearly two decades.

In what was initially donned a rebuilding year, Trask made it his mission to rewrite the script. An ultra-young Badger squad that showcased seven new faces in the starting lineup got off to a bumpy start. But Trask calmed the storm of early emotions and helped guide the Badgers to an 8-1-1 mark in their last 10 games of the season. Wisconsin plowed through Rutgers in the Big Ten quarterfinal match, 6-3, punching their ticket to Indianapolis. But the Cardinal and White felt to the Maize and Blue, 1-0, in a nail-biting semifinal match. Despite their outstanding play throughout the year, coupled with wins over 2018 NCAA Tournament Champion, Maryland, and NCAA tournament semifinalist, Michigan State, the Badgers never got the call to the dance.

Trask led the Badgers through a season for the record books in 2017 as the Badgers claimed their first-ever outright Big Ten tournament title on penalty kicks. Senior goaltender Philipp Schilling earned tournament MVP honors for his spectacular play. The title game wouldn't have gone the distance without Schilling's unbelievable presence in the net through the first 110 minutes of play. The Schwegenheim, Germany, native, garnered seven saves in regulation as well as a miracle save in extra time.
 
The Badgers kept the magic alive into the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin breezed through the first round after taking down UIC, 4-1, at McClimon. In the second round UW faced No. 12 Notre Dame earning a 1-0 victory to advance UW's third-ever Sweet 16. Senior Mike Catalano was the hero of the game scoring the decisive blow in the 95th minute of play to end the wild contest in Wisconsin's favor. In the Sweet 16 against No. 5 Akron, the Badgers put up a hard-fought battle but ultimately fell 3-2 in overtime.

Senior Chris Mueller became the second-ever Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and first two-time All-American in school history during the 2017 campaign. 

Following that season, four Badgers – Mueller, Mark Segbers, Tom Barlow and Mike Catalano – were selected in the MLS Super Draft.

Mueller eventually became the Badgers’ first ever senior U.S. Men’s National Team player and a star for the MLS’ Orlando City FC.

A native of Milwaukee, Trask led UW to 14 victories in 2013, which marked the most in Madison since the team won 20 in 1995.

With a reputation for developing talented young men into elite soccer players, Trask also helped a pair of upperclassmen make history in 2013. Tomislav Zadro (Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year) and AJ Cochran (Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year) became the first duo from the same team to sweep the coveted conference awards.

After earning NSCAA All-American honors and becoming the first MACC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in UW history, Cochran went on to become the first Wisconsin player selected in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft since 2005, and the first player selected in the first round since Mike Gentile (1995).

Trask has established a solid foundation in Madison with the development of young talent. At least one Badger was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in seven straight seasons under Trask from 2010-2016. Sam Brotherton continued that streak of All-Big Ten Freshman Badgers in 2015, earning selection following a strong debut campaign in Madison. Brotherton went on to earn his first international cap with New Zealand and even started for the All Whites at the 2016 OFC Nations Cup. Freshmen Elan Koenig and Noah Leibold collected All-Big Ten Freshman honors in 2016.

Trask led the Badgers to anther incredible season in 2016. Fulfilling a preseason promise to protect home field advantage at the McClimon Soccer Complex, Wisconsin was impossible to beat at home, fostering a perfect 9-0-1 record. The confidence earned from home victories translated to Big Ten play. The Badgers established themselves as an elite team in a conference that played host to then-ranked teams, No. 1 Maryland, No. 4 Indiana, and No. 21 Michigan State. The Badgers finished 10-3-3 in regular season play.

Trask led the Badgers into the 2016 Big Ten Tournament, where they were favored to win only a single game. But Trask and the Badgers, unwavering at the sound of a challenge, produced much more. Wisconsin trampled Ohio State at home 3-0 in the first round before heading to Westfield, Indiana to play the Hoosiers. In a thrilling overtime bout, the Badgers upended the perennial powerhouse in penalty kicks 4-3. Wisconsin made it to the Big Ten championship where they faced No. 1-ranked Maryland and lost, 2-1. The Badgers garnered an impressive 11-4-4 overall record and 4-2-2 Big Ten record.

In one of his most impressive coaching accolades at Wisconsin, Trask was major part of Sam Brotherton’s declaration to professional soccer. Brotherton signed to Sunderland AFC in the English Premier League – the first Badger to claim a spot in the prestigious league. As only a sophomore in the program, Brotherton stood among some of the best in the national scene. Brotherton garnered award after award in his time at Wisconsin, including NSCAA Player of the Week, which made him the first Badger to earn the national award. He was Academic All-Big Ten and was named to the 2016 Academic All-District team.

Trask added to his tremendous 2016 pallet on the offensive side of the ball with then-junior forward Christopher Mueller. After the two previous seasons proved that Mueller was capable of breaking out, an upward trend might have been expected but no one could have guessed Mueller’s exponential growth. The Chicago, Illinois, native led the Badgers in points, goals, and assists. He was awarded third-team All-American and was the first Badger to claim the award since A.J. Cochran claimed first-team All-American in 2013.  

In 2014, Trask took a young squad of Badgers and developed the team into a group that fought throughout the season and contended with some of the top competition in the country. Perhaps no one benefited more from the coaching than newcomers Tom Barlow, Mike Catalano and Mark Segbers, who were each named to the 2014 Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Trask led Wisconsin to a 10-win season and a semifinal finish at the Big Ten tournament in 2011. The 10-win season marks the most wins for the Badgers since 2003 when they finished 11-10-1. In Trask's second season, UW also captured its first true victory at the conference tournament with a 2-0 shutout of Michigan in the first round. One of the highlights of the 2011 campaign came on Oct. 2 when Wisconsin handed then-No.6 Indiana its first loss of the season, marking the first Wisconsin victory over the Hoosiers in 16 years.

The Badgers wrapped up their first season under Trask with a semifinal finish at the 2010 Big Ten Tournament. After advancing past defending Big Ten champion Ohio State on penalty kicks in the opening round, Wisconsin fell to eventual Big Ten champion and NCAA College Cup semifinalist Michigan, 1-0, in the semifinal round. UW posted a 4-13-3 overall record for 2010 but went 3-2-1 over its last six games in Trask's first season.

Off of the field, Trask has taken priority in seeing his players do well in the classroom. Under his watch, over 30 men's soccer student-athletes have been earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, while his teams have received the award for the top grade point average among all men's sports at UW in two of the last three semesters.

Widely regarded as one of the top coaches in the game, Trask spent five seasons as head coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago before joining the Badgers. He brought 14 years of collegiate coaching experience - along with five seasons spent in Major League Soccer ranks - to Madison. Trask developed the UIC program into a powerhouse that claimed three Horizon League championships and qualified for NCAA tournament play each season from 2006 to 2008.

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. Also in those three seasons, Trask mentored four All-Americans and six players that earned All-Great Lakes Region honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

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 followed that with another NCAA berth in 2007, as the Flames won the Horizon League tournament title and advanced to the school's first-ever Elite Eight by winning three-consecutive road games on the way to a No. 10 national ranking at season's end.

The Flames won another regular-season Horizon League title and returned to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2008, a season in which UIC put together a 12-match unbeaten streak and ascended to a No. 4 national ranking.

Under Trask's tutelage, goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja, who finished his career as a three-time first-team All-Horizon League selection, earned first-team All-America honors and was a Hermann Trophy semifinalist that season. Midfielder Baggio Husidic also earned first-team All-America honors in 2008 and was selected by the Chicago Fire in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.

That marked the third-consecutive season in which one of Trask's players became an MLS draft pick, as Cesar Zambrano was selected by the Colorado Rapids in 2008 and Tonci Skroce was taken by the Columbus Crew in 2007.

Prior to his return to the college game, Trask spent five seasons as an assistant coach with three Major League Soccer clubs. He spent two seasons with the now-defunct Miami Fusion, which advanced to the final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in his first season before playing its way into the semifinals of the MLS Playoffs in 2001.

Trask then spent two seasons with D.C. United before coaching with FC Dallas in 2004.

No stranger to the Big Ten Conference, Trask's time in professional soccer came after nine years on the coaching staff at his alma mater, Indiana University. In that time, the Hoosiers won eight Big Ten titles, advanced to the NCAA College Cup five times and won back-to-back national titles in 1998 and 1999.

Trask spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at IU before joining the staff of legendary head coach Jerry Yeagley full-time in 1993. 

In his seven seasons as an assistant to Yeagley, Trask helped guide the Hoosiers to a combined 136-20-6 record. That includes a mark of 67-6-0 over his final three seasons on the IU bench, each of which resulted in a College Cup berth.

He also helped IU players rake in five Big Ten Player of the Year awards, 18 All-America honors, 27 first-team All-Region accolades and 64 All-Big Ten citations. In 1994, he guided Brian Maisonneuve and Todd Yeagley to dual national player of the year honors, with Maisonneuve winning the Hermann Trophy and Yeagley claiming the Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year award.

When he joined UW, Trask replaced Todd Yeagley, who left UW in Dec. 2010 to become the head coach at Indiana.

Beyond the college game, Trask served as the men's senior coach for the Indiana State Soccer Association from 1992-95 and then spent five years as the group's coaching director. 

He also has worked extensively with U.S. Soccer, serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team at the prestigious Northern Ireland Milk Cup in July 2008. Alongside head coach Mike Matkovich, Trask served as an assistant coach at U18 national team development camps in Carson, Calif., in April 2010 and Nov. 2010. As an assistant coach, Trask worked with Mix Diskerud, Terrance Boyd and Juan Agudelo, among others, in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

A four-year letterwinner for the Hoosiers from 1984-1987, Trask earned a bachelor's degree in management and a master's degree in kinesiology from Indiana.

A native of Milwaukee, Trask was married to his wife, Jela, in February 2008. The couple has a son, Jack.