WIAA GIRLS STATE SOCCER TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
What: 36th-annual WIAA state girls soccer tournament. When: Thursday-Saturday. Where: Uihlein Soccer Park, Milwaukee. Tickets: $8 per session. $1 for children 6 and under.
Broadcasts: All semifinals will be streamed live on WIAA.TV. A subscription is required. The championship games will be aired live on FS Wisconsin or FS Wisconsin Plus. The Division 2 game will air on FS Wisconsin. The Division 1 and Division 4 games will come on FS Wisconsin Plus. The Division 3 final will air on FS Wisconsin, but it could start on FS Wisconsin Plus if the Milwaukee Brewers’ programming runs long.
2017 champions: Division 1 – Brookfield Central; Division 2 – Whitefish Bay; Division 3 – Catholic Memorial; Division 4 – Brookfield Academy.
SCHEDULE
(Seeding listed before each team) THURSDAY Division 2 semifinals (1) Brookfield Central (16-1-1) vs. (4) River Falls (16-2-2), 11 a.m.
(2) New Berlin Eisenhower (18-2-1) vs. (3) Oregon (11-3-6), 1:30 p.m.
Division 1 semifinals (1) Sheboygan North (20-1-1) vs. (4) Muskego (13-3-2), 4;30 p.m.
(2) Bay Port (22-1) vs. (3) Kettle Moraine (10-2-5), 7 p.m.
FRIDAY Division 4 semifinals (1) Cedar Grove-Belgium (15-1-1) vs. (4) Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld (12-4), 11 a.m.
(2) Eau Claire Regis/Chippewa Falls McDonell (15-3) vs. (3) Kenosha St. Joseph (15-5-1), 1:30 p.m.
Division 3 semifinals (1) Catholic Memorial (20-2-2) vs. (4) Rice Lake (9-9-3), 4:30 p.m.
(2) Green Bay Notre Dame (15-5-1) vs. (3) Belleville/New Glarus (18-0-1), 7 p.m. SATURDAY FINALS Division 2, 11:05 a.m. Division 1, 1:35 p.m. Division 4, 4:35 p.m. Division 3, 7:05 p.m.
THE FIELD
DIVISION 1
Bay Port: The Pirates were last year’s runner-up and finished this season ranked No. 1 in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state poll. The team’s only loss came, 1-0, to Sheboygan North.
Kettle Moraine: The Lasers finished third in the Classic 8 behind Catholic Memorial and Arrowhead but finished ranked fifth in Division 1. The top results on their resume are ties to state qualifiers Catholic Memorial, Brookfield Central and Waukesha West.
Muskego: The 10th-ranked Warriors finished fourth in the Classic 8. This is their fifth straight appearance. They defeated Southeast Conference champion Kenosha Bradford, 3-0, in the sectional final.
Sheboygan North: The Golden Raiders won the Fox River Classic and finished third in the state rankings behind Bay Port and Arrowhead, which they beat in the sectional final in overtime. They won their sectional semifinal against Kimberly on penalty kicks.
DIVISION 2
Brookfield Central: The only blemishes on second-ranked Central’s record is a 2-2 tie with Kettle Moraine May 12 and a 3-2 loss to top-ranked Whitefish Bay on May 25 that it avenged in the sectional final. This is the Lancers 14th state appearance but first in Division 2.
New Berlin Eisenhower: The thirdranked Lions defeated Southern Lakes champion Union Grove in the sectional semifinal and eliminated fourth-ranked Waukesha West, 3-1, in the sectional final to reach state for the first time since 2000. Their only losses came to D3 qualifier Catholic Memorial, 2-0, and Wauwatosa West, 1-0.
Oregon: This will be the fourth straight appearance for the 10th-ranked Panthers. They tied for the Badger South title with Madison Edgewood.
River Falls: The Wildcats made their only other state appearance in 2011. They finished second in the Big Rivers to Eau Claire Memorial, which handed the team its only losses. One of its ties came to Division 3 qualifier Rice Lake. DIVISION 3
Catholic Memorial: The six-time defending champion last lost April 13 by a 5-0 margin to Brookfield Central. The Crusaders have a 19-match unbeaten streak. They needed a second-half goal to pull out a 1-0 win over fourth-ranked Grafton in the sectional final.
Green Bay Notre Dame: The Tritons return to the Division 3 field after reaching the sectional final in Division 2 last year. Their only in-state losses came to state qualifiers Brookfield Central, 4-2, Sheboygan North, 2-1, and Bay Port, 5-4.
Rice Lake: A qualifier for the second straight year, the Warriors scored three straight one-goal victories in the tournament. They finished sixth in the Big Rivers.
Sugar River: The co-op that includes Belleville and New Glarus won the Capitol Conference. It finished the year ranked eighth. In the sectional semifinal, the Raiders defeated No. 5 Mount Horeb, 3-2, and in the sectional final beat No. 3 Madison Edgewood, 1-0.
DIVISION 4 Cedar Grove-Belgium: The fourthranked Rockets finished second in the Big East to Oostburg and earned their first state berth by beating fifth-ranked Winnebago Lutheran, 4-1, in the sectional semifinal and top-ranked Oostburg, 1-0, in the sectional final.
Eau Claire Regis/Chippewa Falls McDonell: This marks the first state appearance for either school. The big win in its tournament run was a 1-0 victory over third-ranked La Crosse Aquinas in the sectional final.
Kenosha St. Joseph: The Lancers finished second in the Metro Classic to second-ranked Racine St. Catherine’s. They lost, 5-1, April 25 to the Angels but defeated them, 3-2, in the sectional final to qualify for state for the first time.
Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld: The Vanguards finished third in the Capitol South behind D3 qualifier Sugar River and Lodi, another Division 3 school.