Post-match Quotes vs. Ohio State
Nov. 6, 2016
McClimon Sports Complex - Madison, Wis.

Head Coach John Trask 
On creating chances and scoring three goals in the second half
 "You know, Parker Sigfried is a good goalkeeper, he was on the All-Freshman team, we knew he was going to make some saves. Fair dues, they hung in a long time, they're a very competitive group, they were in the Big Ten final, they did not want their season to end and that's what tournament soccer is all about. I was very proud of our guys in the sense of when Noah (Leibold) went down. That's our whole center and midfield and the performance by Mitch Guitar and Brian Hail and everybody across the board, I thought when they changed their tactics a little bit, they came at us with a 3-5-2, I thought we handled it wonderfully. Fortunately for us, we scored our chances and I thought it was a fair shutout. I don't think they created much, they might've gotten one here or there but I thought we were razor sharp and compliments to the backs and Sam Brotherton and obviously Philipp Schilling making sure the goal never cross our goal line.
 
On if the preparation was any different after seeing Ohio State last week
 "No, I think we're pretty comfortable in our skin. We've been working very hard to get to this point and we weren't going to make any drastic changes and we've seen everything so far. We've seen teams that have tried to press us high, we've seen teams that have sat in on us. That's soccer, tactics are a part of it and I thought we handled it beautifully and it's nice when you can stand on the sideline and watch college players truly act like professionals and I thought we were very professional in our performance today. We didn't get caught up in some of the shenanigans, we just went about getting our job done, which was to move on to Friday and the semifinals, so excited to get to Indianapolis with this team.
 
On seeing defenders like Enda (O'Neill) and Elan (Koenig) scoring goals
 "We've been saying it, Elan's been sniffing around in practice, he hits the ball 100 miles per hour. Kept that thing low, which we talked about at half time, we thought we got too many shots in the guy's comfort zone and he just nailed it. My associate head coach Keith Tiemeyer said I knew he was going to get one, I knew it. He was just chomping at the bit to put the ball across the line so congrats to Elan, he's a great young man." 


Junior Forward Christopher Mueller
On creating chances and scoring three goals in the second half:
 "It was a relief, it was kind of hard, we missed a couple of sitters. We obviously had the better play, we could have scored a couple, but definitely breaking through just shows our resilience and we came out, scored the three. It felt good, it's a good feeling, we needed to win this game so we will take and move forward."
 
On Koenig scoring his first goal:
 "He had one coming, he's trying to get up in the attack here and there and he finally got his first goal for the program so good for him and it's good for the team. That was the break goal as you could say, the second one, so it was definitely important and good for him."
 
On what a win like this does for an NCAA Tournament push:
 "It was a must win for sure. For the NCAA Tournament, we needed to win today and for the guys, one of our main goals this year was to win the Big Ten Tournament. So obviously this was a tournament game, and anything could happen. They came out here and played a good game but it was definitely a priority to win this game."


Freshman Defender Elan Koenig

Junior Forward Thomas Barlow

On knocking in three goals in the second half:
"It feels pretty good. The goalie made some incredible saves in the first half, but we stayed confident because we were getting shots on goal so we didn't get down about it at halftime. Once the first one went in, we kept it going and got a couple more to finish them off."
 
On his goal:
 "I'm not sure exactly how it happened, I know Mark had it outside the box and I was floating near the back post and then he chipped it back there and I just tried to get a head on it. I didn't see it go in but once I got out I saw it in there."
 
On playing Ohio State twice in a span of a week:
 "Especially because we lost Mike (Catalano) with a red card, we had to make a few changes there to get ready for them. But we watched film and prepared and they came out with a 3-5-2 against us too, which was a little different. They did that to us in the second half last week, so we had to adjust to that, but there's not too much of a difference. We saw them last week, so we sort of knew what they had and we just kind of stuck to our game plan and tried to play how we play, and it worked out."
 
On what a win like this does for an NCAA Tournament push:
 "Oh its huge. I'm not exactly sure what it's going to do to us now, but Coach (Trask) said we're literally right on the bubble so we have our destiny in our hands so we just have to keep winning and we will see what happens."

Freshman Defender Elan Koenig
 
On getting his first goal
 "I mean it was like a feeling I could never, ever describe. Last week when Enda (O'Neill) scored last week, it went down as my goal and my family in LA was freaking out and so now to actually get the goal, I know they were going nuts so I was happy for them and happy to get the win. It was awesome."
 
On the second half performance from the team
 "I mean we'll take it anyway we can get it. At the end of the day, we're trying to win a Big Ten championship and this was the first step and I think if we keep putting in performances like this, it's looking good."
 
On where the team stands in terms of getting a bid for the NCAA tournament
 "I think at this point, we had to win this game. I think if we get anything else but a win out of this game, we don't get a bid. Now looking at the three other teams, which probably will by Maryland, Indiana and Michigan State, when we go up against those teams it's two ties and a loss in overtime so I think going against those teams it shows we have that ability."