Former Wisconsin goalie Chase Rau elected to transfer to Western Michigan University following a tumultuous spring where he lost hold of his starting position and reportedly, his place on the team.

Multiple reasons converged to put Rau in the position where he chose to leave Wisconsin in April with head coach John Trask signing his release, allowing him to play immediately the following season at the university of his choice.

Trask cited a number of reasons for Rau’s departure, including academics and “things that obviously would not be public information.” One main reason seemed to be a disparity with scholarship money.

Rau, an out-of-state student-athlete from Sparta, Mich., declined to go into specific detail about his scholarship at Wisconsin but said it covered more than half of his tuition costs (out-of-state tuition at Wisconsin was $26,634 for the 2012-2013 academic year). He also disclosed Trask and Rau “didn’t necessarily agree on [the] scholarship.”

“Initially, our agreement was, if I came in, I would be at this much, and if I got the starting position, that money would go up,” Rau said. He took over the starting position in just the fourth game of the season. “I was fortunate enough to get the starting position, and he couldn’t afford to give me that money.

“That’s just the way it is, I understand. Essentially, I could have stayed, but at the money they were giving me, I couldn’t afford to go to [Wisconsin] at that price.”

Spreading scholarship money across a team of 24 players is one thing, but graduating only two seniors in 2012 and welcoming six incoming freshmen makes it even more difficult. In addition, a majority of the scholarship money is allotted to the Wisconsin’s large senior class, which comprises more than half of the student-athletes on the roster.

However, sources have said that Rau’s exit came amidst strange circumstances this spring.

Of the aforementioned factors, what Trask said “would not be public information” may have been Rau showing up to a spring practice “very, very, very hungover,” according to a Wisconsin player who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

According to the player, Rau was struggling in spring practice and had lost his leg-up in the goalkeeper competition – one that included senior Max Jentsch, who split time with Rau in 2012.

To compound the situation, Rau had reportedly approached Trask about his scholarship before refusing Trask’s offer to find a better situation at another university.

That’s when, according to the player, Rau showed up to practice extremely hungover.

“That’s when coach decided he was going to find him a new place to play,” the player said. “Chase showing up to practice basically drunk was the last straw for coach.”

Another UW player, who chose to remain anonymous, was at that practice and detailed what he heard from teammates.

“I didn’t really see [much of] Chase at the practice because he was off doing his own goalie stuff, but what people said was basically, he was talking to the coaches and they smelled the booze on his breath, so that tipped them off.

“Nothing really happened, no one knew about it, and then [a couple days later] coach called us in before one of our practices and announced that Chase was not going to be returning to the team.”

Trask was much more guarded about the incident. When asked to explain if Rau showed up to practice intoxicated, Trask declined to comment. When Rau was asked, he held similar ground.

“I don’t know if I should comment on that,” Rau said. “I heard that coach Trask hadn’t commented on that either, because he didn’t want that information to be public.

“I don’t know who told you that I was hungover. I definitely was not hungover. I don’t know if I should comment on that,” he continued.

Not long after that phone interview with the Herald, Rau followed up with a text: “To comment on what my teammate had said about coming to practice hungover, that situation had nothing to do with my decision to leave Wisconsin.”

The Badger Herald first learned of the incident from a source close to the program last spring.

Although the UW Athletic Department never formally announced Rau’s departure, Trask told The Badger Herald Wednesday the decision for Rau to part ways with the program was in place for some time and had been made during the winter and spring, collegiate soccer’s offseason.

However, Rau remained listed on the Wisconsin roster on uwbadgers.com until being removed from the list early in July.

Rau started 15 games during his lone season in Madison, earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors three times, a tie for most in the conference. He was passed over for Big Ten postseason honors after splitting playing time with Jentsch.

Western Michigan head coach Chad Wiseman confirmed Rau’s transfer in an email to The Badger Herald Thursday and said Rau would be able to compete from day one with the program.

“He has an entire year of starting Big Ten experience under his belt,” Wiseman wrote. “We think we have one of the best goalkeepers in the [Mid-American Conference] and the Midwest.”

However, Wiseman did not answer a question about the aforementioned spring practice.

If he wins the job, Rau could be stepping onto the pitch against his former Wisconsin teammates when Western Michigan visits Madison for a non-conference game Sept. 6.

Rau remained complimentary of the way Trask and UW handled his exit. He said he holds “no hard feelings” against Trask and the Wisconsin program and is happy at Western Michigan, where he is currently enrolled in summer courses.

“Things worked out good for me at Western [Michigan],” Rau said. “I feel like this is where my life should be right now. I’m grateful for the efforts that coach Trask has put in to make my life work out the best for me.”