Wisconsin Soccer Central

It was a night for firsts for the Milwaukee Bavarians.

UW-Milwaukee's Ryan Whitehead, a starting central defender for the team all season, made his first start for the team as a forward.

And all Whitehead did was score two goals to spark a 5-0 victory over host Eau Claire Aris FC that clinched the Bavarians' first National Premier Soccer League Midwest Division championship.

Milwaukee (7-1-2) is the first team to secure a berth in the NPSL national finals, which are July 28 and 30 in Madison, Ala. The Bavarians will be joined by the Northeast, Southeast and West Division champions in competing for the seventh NPSL title.

Bavarians coach Andreas Davi had only 15 players available for the match due to an injury list that included the Marquette trio of midfielders Amilcar Herrera (Milwaukee Riverside) and Sebastian Jansson and forward Chris Madsen (Brookfield Central) and UW-Parkside defender Collin Monahan (East Troy).

The team also lost midfielder Sol Caceres (Glendale Nicolet/UW-Milwaukee) on Friday as he moved to New York to take a new job. Then, to make matters worse, UW-Parkside forward Cyril Simmons had to come off in the first half because of a hamstring injury.

Aris (1-7-2) came out looking to defend with 10 players behind the ball, Davi said, and goalkeeper Troy Osborne again frustrated the Bavarians early on.

"He was everywhere," Davi said of the Iowa Wesleyan keeper, who starred in Eau Claire's 1-1 tie with Milwaukee on June 5. "It doesn't matter where the shot came, he was there."

But two goals in a 3-minute span late in the first half broke the match open for the Bavarians.

UW-Platteville's Mark Ciszewski (Germantown), who subbed on for Simmons, got on the end of a bending cross from UW-Milwaukee's Robbie Boyd (Milwaukee Marquette) and headed it back across Osborne and into the net for his third goal of the season in the 37th minute.

Two minutes later, midfielder Tim Lancina (Shorewood) found himself with some space and fired a shot that deflected off an Aris defender and past the wrong-footed Osborne for a 2-0 lead.

Whitehead, who scored 52 goals in his prep career in Georgia, showed off some of his offensive skills in the 61st. He received a pass from Lancina with his back to the goal approximately 20 yards out and went to turn, but ripped a shot into the upper left corner as he turned. "An unbelievable goal," Davi said.

Lancina – who also has played at central defender this season – was back at it 5 minutes later, heading in a cross from UW-Parkside's Niklas Boedts for his second of the night. Whitehead finished things off in second-half stoppage time, providing a perfect lead-in for the Bavarians' celebration.

"We're wearing t-shirts already that say Midwest regional champions," Davi said.

The Midwest title also could give the Bavarians a berth in next year's U.S. Open Cup.

However, it is not known if the U.S. Soccer Federation will grant the league four first-round berths in 2012 as it did this year. Also, if the NPSL does receive the spots again, the league or the Midwest Division members could alter the way the berths are awarded.

This year, each of the NPSL's four divisions received one spot and the Midwest teams chose to award it to last year's division champion, the 56ers. They were the only league team to advance to the second round, beating Chicago's AAC Eagles before losing to the Chicago Fire PDL 2-0.

From the touchline

Marquette keeper David Check (Mequon Homestead) didn't face a shot in posting the clean sheet. ... Davi said he expects the injured players to be ready for the NPSL national finals. ... Quad City (4-1-5) could match the Bavarians with 23 points, but the first tiebreaker is head-to-head, and Milwaukee beat the Eagles 3-0 and played them to a 0-0 tie. ... Milwaukee plays at the Madison 56ers (5-3-3) next Saturday night, but Davi said it wasn't clear yet if the Bavarians would make the trip to the Twin Cities to play a match against Minnesota Kings FC that was postponed May 22 because of unplayable field conditions.

MILWAUKEE BAVARIANS: David Check; Luke Davey, James Ashcroft, Andrew Krenzien; Charlie Hoover, Shay Douglas (Tim Stadler); Peter Sanger (Kinkade Lo); Tim Lencina, Robbie Boyd (Niklas Boedts); Cyril Simmons (Mark Ciszewski), Ryan Whitehead.