John Trask named head coach at Wisconsin

CHICAGO - University of Illinois at Chicago head men's soccer coach John Trask has resigned his position to become the head men's soccer coach at the University of Wisconsin, effective immediately.

"On behalf of the entire UIC community, I want to thank John for his outstanding efforts during the past five years," UIC athletic director Jim Schmidt said. "Our men's soccer program has risen to national prominence in a short amount of time thanks to John, and we wish him and his family nothing but the best in his future endeavors.

"As our men's soccer program moves forward, we will hire a head coach who will continue to cultivate a team that is a perennial contender for Horizon League championships and NCAA tournament success," said Schmidt.

"I want to thank Jim Schmidt, [special assistant to athletics] Denny Wills, [associate athletic director] Eric Phillips, the entire UIC Athletics staff and the UIC community for their support," said Trask. "UIC will always be a special place to me. I had five unbelievable years at UIC.

"I want to thank my coaching staff, especially [assistant coach] Sean Phillips," Trask continued. "I could not have done it without him. It's always about the players, so I want to thank all of the student-athletes, past and present, who represented UIC.

"This is bittersweet for me," Trask said. "UIC couldn't have been a better fit, and this is one of the only jobs I would have left for. Even though I will no longer be at UIC, the biggest UIC fan will be John Trask."

Trask went 54-24-26 in five seasons at UIC, guiding the Flames to three straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2006-2008. He also led UIC to a pair of Horizon League regular season championships and the 2007 Horizon League tournament title.

The Flames made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 and were a win away from advancing to the 2007 College Cup after a historic run to the Elite Eight that season.

UIC attained unprecedented national rankings during Trask's tenure, including an end-of-season ranking of No. 10 in 2007 and a school-best No. 4 national ranking in 2008.

Under Trask's watch, the Flames featured four All-Americans, six All-Region players, and a two-time Hermann Trophy candidate in goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja. Three Flames were drafted by Major League Soccer sides since 2007, including Generation adidas signee and current Chicago Fire midfielder Baggio Husidic.

Courtesy of UIC sports information department