Last year’s University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team had among the best seasons in the program’s history. The team hadn’t won a Big Ten Championship or advanced this far in the NCAA Tournament since Jim Launder won both the conference and NCAA titles in 1995.
After the season MLS took notice of the talent on Wisconsin’s roster. Chris Mueller, Mark Segbers, Tom Barlow and Mike Catalano were all taken within the first three rounds of the MLS SuperDraft in January. Mueller was taken by Orlando City, Segbers by New England, Barlow by New York and Catalano by Philadelphia.