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 FC Milwaukee won in a familiar fashion Saturday afternoon, and got the matchup it has wanted for the Women's Premier Soccer League Midwest Conference final.
UW-Milwaukee forward Sarah Hagen (Appleton North) scored her 13th goal of the season in the 37th minute, and the Nationals held off South Division champion Ohio Premier 1-0 in a conference semifinal in steamy Dublin, Ohio.
The victory sends FC Milwaukee (8-2-1) into the conference championship game at 11 a.m. Sunday against North Division winner Chicago Red Stars (9-1-0), who handed the Nationals both of their losses this season.
The Midwest champion will travel to Sunshine Conference champion Tampa Bay Hellenic (9-1-2) on July 23 or 24 to play for a berth in the WPSL Final Four, which will be hosted by the Red Stars on July 30 and 31 at Benedictine University Sports Complex in Lisle, Ill.
The Red Stars beat FC Milwaukee 2-0 on June 16 and 4-2 on June 30, accounting for two-thirds of the nine goals allowed by the Nationals this season.
Hagen and University of Wisconsin forward Laurie Nosbusch (Mequon Homestead) are among the WPSL's leading scorers, and have scored the past 16 goals for FC Milwaukee. Hagen's goal Saturday was her 10th in the past five matches since returning from a trip to Sweden with the U.S. Under-23 national team.
She had both goals, the first on a penalty kick, against Chicago on June 30 as the Nationals took a 2-0 lead only to allow four unanswered goals in the loss.
After FC Milwaukee ended the season for Ohio Premier (7-1-1) for the second straight year – the Nationals ousted them 5-4 on penalty kicks following a 2-2 tie in the Midwest final last summer – the Red Stars cruised to a 4-0 victory over two-time WPSL champion FC Indiana (5-3-1).
Midfielder Kara Kabellis (UW) had an assist as Chicago scored three times in the opening 24 minutes, and UW-Milwaukee goalkeeper Jamie Forbes made two saves in the Red Stars' fifth straight clean sheet.
Chicago has allowed just four goals in its 10 matches, with half of those scored by Hagen on June 30.
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