Three years ago, when AJ Cochran heard of Wisconsin, he fell in love almost immediately. The Big Ten atmosphere, the 40,000-plus students, the social scene and excellence in academics all appealed to the then high school senior. While still in pursuit of finding the university where he would like to play collegiate soccer, a simple, small shove of guidance from his sister made all of the difference.
“[Wisconsin] was an awesome and unreal campus, from what my sister told me,” Cochran said. “I was like, ‘I’m definitely going to go check this place out.'”
And once he made that decision, the game was just about over for competing schools, as it took Cochran just 30 minutes to decide Madison was the place for him. It also helped that now head coach John Trask had made a very similar decision.
Trask began his recruitment of Cochran while he was head coach at Illinois-Chicago. One year later, once he became UW’s head coach, the idea of Cochran as a Badger was a perfect fit for everyone involved.
“It became a win-win-win all the way around because academically and socially [Cochran] was crying out for an institution like this,” Trask recalled. “Once I got to [Wisconsin], it was pretty much a done deal for his family and him to commit to us, knowing that we were building something.”
What Trask was building was a notable soccer program at Wisconsin, something that hadn’t been seen in awhile. The Badgers had not finished above .500 in Big Ten play since 2006, and Trask was looking for a defensive centerfold. Cochran was his man.
And ever since, Cochran has been a key piece in the puzzle for a Wisconsin team that has made steady improvement.
The 2010 Gatorade Player of the Year from Missouri started for much of his freshman season, logging over 1,600 minutes, more than any other Badger freshman. His consistent play throughout the conference schedule made him an obvious pick to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
The Badgers finished his freshman season with a conference record of 4-2 and a surprising tie for second place. This season, Cochran is the only Badger to play every minute of all 13 matches.
Throughout his career, Cochran has tallied just two career goals, but as a defender, it isn’t often Cochran’s name stands out in the scorebook. However, he does stand out in a completely different way: his physical makeup and athleticism.
Standing 6-foot-3, Cochran is taller than many other players, which immediately separates him from competitors and his 200-pound frame complements his height, making him more of a mountain for opposing forwards to get around than a skinny cedar tree.
Add a 30-plus inch vertical leap, and he becomes one difficult matchup opponents need to plan for, even though he is relegated to the defensive side of the field for most of the game.
“AJ is just a big defender. He is able to win 50/50 balls, air balls, everything that comes to the back,” fellow defender Paul Yonga said. “His confidence in the back allows him to know that he is going to win every ball in the back [of the field]. All that put together makes him a great defender.”
What separates Cochran even more is his approach to the game. Facing a big bull is one thing, but when that big bull is out to get you is a completely different story. When he steps onto the pitch, Cochran is a big bull.
“I know a lot of my teammates probably don’t like to practice against me because when I step across the lines, I think you have to have a different attitude,” Cochran said. “I will be your best friend off the field, but once you get on the field, it’s a eat or be eaten mentality for me.”
It’s that mentality that makes Cochran a boost to the Badgers offense and a strategy problem for opponents. Now having played more than 10 games in the Big Ten, Trask has noticed that opponents are scheming to keep the Badgers’ leaper close to the ground.
Whether it is fouling, holding, tripping him or just getting in the way, Trask knows that teams aim to take Cochran out of the offensive equation. Sometimes, however, his aggressiveness is too much to contain.
“You see times where the goalkeeper doesn’t even touch the ball, and you hear ‘AJ’s ball,'” Trask said. “I have not seen too many other collegiate players who have that mindset of ‘If it’s in the air, it’s mine.'”
His leaping ability is clearly important to his effectiveness, and helps him stand out among the best defenders in the Big Ten. Trask, however, thinks Cochran is one of the best defenders in the nation, and it is not too lofty of a claim.
Cochran has competed for the United States throughout his amateur years in Argentina, Chile and Northern Ireland as a member of the U-18 and U-20 national teams.
His travels and opportunity to represent his home country were “unreal” in his words, but in the end, he still could not get Wisconsin off his mind.
“It is a lot different than college, because you are obviously representing your country,” Cochran said. “But going all around the world to play the sport you love, and then coming back here to a campus and school you love to play for, the two kind of go together.”
Sort of like Cochran and Trask. Trask also spent some time with the U.S. national team this summer as an assistant coach, and that bond among others is a common ground they share that few other players and coaches can match.
Their strong relationship has continued to grow, and the program Trask mentioned in his recruitment is starting to take full shape.
“At times I wish we were a little bit further along for AJ’s sake,” Trask said of his program’s status and Cochran’s potential. “He has been a big part of why we think the program is going in the right direction.”
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