Catholic Memorial goes for sixth straight.

John Burke is a past president of the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association and once sat on the rules advisory committee.

Burke, the girls soccer coach at Catholic Memorial, was instrumental in forming a “mercy rule” in which games with a 10goal differential were halted. Little did Burke know his Crusaders would become the first team in state history involved in such a contest.

Catholic Memorial obliterated Rice Lake, 10-0, in a WIAA Division 3 state semifinal Friday at Uihlein Soccer Park. The game was stopped in the 86th minute when Crusaders sophomore forward Abby Piette scored her second goal of the game.

The Crusaders’ win marked the second-greatest goal differential in state history. The only one larger came in 1998, when Madison West defeated Franklin, 11-0.

“I did not expect this, not at all,” said Crusaders senior midfielder Morgan Rymer, who had two assists. “But we just finished everything. Typically it takes longer to finish, but every chance we had, we finished.”

Catholic Memorial, which has won a record five consecutive state championships, moved within one win of making it six straight. During that time, Catholic Memorial is 34-0-1 in the postseason. It will face Winneconne in the final at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Crusaders graduated a senior class last June that accounted for 848 career points. But Catholic Memorial (161-6) simply reloaded and has now outscored its five postseason foes, 42-0.

“We want to be the most consistently successful program in state history,” Burke said. “Programs can get great players coming in and they can be strong for four years. But we want to build our program in a way that every single year, we can be a contender. And we’re most proud of that.”

There was plenty to be proud of Friday.

In addition to Piette, freshman midfielders Lauren Brown and Emma Westrick both had two goals. Junior midfielder Carly Delforge took 10 shots and had two goals, while senior forward Lauren Lehsten and freshman midfielder Allison Bonner each added a goal.

The Crusaders scored six goals in the first 18 minutes, at which time Burke pulled his starters for the remainder of the half. Catholic Memorial’s front-liners returned in the second half and pushed the lead to 9-0 by the 56th minute. Burke substituted liberally from there, before Piette ended things in the 86th minute.

Catholic Memorial finished with a 35-1 edge in shots and a 13-1 advantage on corner kicks.

“I think we’ve been playing really well,” Piette said. “I think we’re all really happy and excited for (Saturday).”

Winneconne 1, Madison Edgewood 1: The Wolves defeated the Crusaders in a shootout, 3-1.

Winneconne (22-2-1) is making its first state tournament appearance.