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 The third time wasn't the charm for FC Milwaukee.
The Nationals were hoping to avenge both of their regular-season losses in the Women's Premier Soccer League Midwest Conference final against the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday afternoon in Dublin, Ohio.
But the Red Stars continued their dominating run, scoring twice in an early 11-minute span and adding two late goals in a 4-0 victory over defending conference champion FC Milwaukee that sends them within one win of playing the WPSL Final Four on their home field.
FC Milwaukee (8-3-1), which advanced to the Final Four in their inaugural 2010 season, also lost to Chicago 2-0 on June 16 and 4-2 on June 30. In their other nine matches this season, the Nationals were 8-0-1 and outscored opponents 27-3.
Chicago (10-1-0) has won 10 in a row since a season-opening 1-0 loss to Minnesota Kings FC, racking up 43 goals and allowing just three – two of those were scored by FC Milwaukee. Sunday was the team's sixth straight shutout, a stretch in which the Red Stars have outscored foes 32-0.
Next up for the former Women's Professional Soccer team is a road match against Sunshine Conference champion Tampa Bay Hellenic (9-2-1) next weekend, with the winner advancing to the Final Four July 30 and 31 in Lisle, Ill.
Michele Weissenhofer opened the scoring in the 14th minute, converting a cross from Illinois' Vanessa DiBernardo. Another Illinois player, Julie Ewing, doubled the advantage in the 25th, following up on a rebound after Kara Kabellis (UW) struck the post on a free kick.
FC Milwaukee, which had just 12 players available for the Midwest tournament, kept it 2-0 until the final minutes. Weissenhofer scored her ninth goal of the season in the 85th and fellow former pro Amanda Cinalli added her 10th of the year on a header off a cross from DiBernardo in the 89th.
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