COLLEGE PARK, MD. – It's been a long time coming and the Wisconsin men's soccer team finally got its revenge on Maryland, taking down the Terrapins, 2-1 for the first time in program history on Sunday afternoon in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
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The fifth-seeded Badgers (9-4-4 overall, 4-3-1 Big Ten) used a late goal in the final four minutes of the game to upset the fourth-seeded Terrapins (10-5-3, 5-1-2), who were ranked 23rd in the latest national poll.
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Senior
Mark Segbers was Wisconsin's hero. Segbers, the epitome of Wisconsin soccer's team-first attitude, was rewarded for his selflessness with a game-winning goal in the 87th minute of play. While Segbers was credited with his fourth goal, the moment wouldn't have been made possible with the touch from Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year senior
Chris Mueller. The playmaker danced around the Terrapin defense and slotted the ball perfectly through the box for his 14th assist of the season.
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Wisconsin found a way to bounce back after going down 1-0 in the 27th minute, a lead the Terps who would hold until early in the second half.
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The first goal of his career couldn't have come at a better time for sophomore
Noah Leibold. Leibold answered Maryland's call at a very dangerous turning point in the game and helped Wisconsin level the score at 1-1 in the 50th minute, firing back in a rebound from in front of the box.
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UW extended Maryland's losing streak to five games.
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Senior goalkeeper
Philipp Schilling recorded three saves just like his counterpart in the Terps' net, Dayne St. Clair.
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Straight from the Pitch:
Head coach John Trask
"Obviously a great win by the guys. It's very difficult to beat Maryland, they've won five-straight conference tournaments and they're an excellent team. I thought we played a smart game and compliment to Noah (Leibold) for scoring his first career goal and then it was a great play for the game-winning goal. Maryland is an excellent team and program and we've had some great battles with them over the last year and a half. We're really looking forward to going to Indianapolis and being in the Final Four of the Big Ten Tournament.
"Belief is a funny thing in sports. All you can do is keep preaching that if you do things right, you'll get rewarded for it. What it came down to was that we didn't play much better or that much worse than any other time we played them, we just kept doing the same thing and fortunately the guys pulled through. It was a huge win on the road, Maryland is a good place to win. We will move on and see who we play in the semifinals on Friday."
Senior MF Mark SegbersÂ
"Unbelievable effort from the boys today and couldn't be happier about the result. Beating Maryland at home where we feel we should have gotten a win last year just makes the win that much better, but we're not done yet!
You could tell there was a different focus and energy from the guys today and I'm excited to take that and use it for the semifinal match next week! On to the next!"
Notes to Know:
-The Badgers' two conference honorees,
Chris Mueller and
Mark Segbers, were responsible for the game-winning goal. Mueller was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and to the All-Big Ten first team, while Segbers was named to the All-Big Ten second team.
- Wisconsin clinched its first win over a ranked opponent this season.
- UW advances to the semifinals of the conference championship for the second-straight season.
- Wisconsin is now 24-28-6 in all-time Big Ten Tournament play.
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Up Next: Wisconsin continues onto the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament for the second-straight year and is slated to play the winner of Michigan and Northwestern in Westfield, Indiana, at Grand Park. The semifinal game will be played on Friday at 11 a.m. (CT) and will be televised on Big Ten Network.
