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 One future University of Wisconsin athlete and one former Badger are poised to play in the USL W-League playoffs this week.
Midfielder Kinley McNicoll, who has verbally committed to UW for the 2012 season, and the Toronto Lady Lynx (5-5-2) will play the regular-season champion Ottawa Fury (12-0-0) in a Central Conference semifinal on Saturday in Ottawa. The winner advances to play the Laval Comets (6-4-2) or Quebec City Amiral (6-5-1) in Sunday's final.
The 17-year-old McNicoll has two goals and one assist in 12 appearances (11 starts) for the Lady Lynx, who lost to the Fury 5-0 last weekend and 1-0 on July 6. She was named to the W-League Team of the Week for the final week of the regular season.
Meanwhile, former UW standout Amy Vermeulen and the Vancouver Whitecaps will play Santa Clarita (8-1-5) in the Western Conference final Sunday night for a berth in the W-League Championships, which are July 29 to 31 in Seattle.
Vermeulen, 27, has one assist in nine matches for the Whitecaps (8-2-4), who will be looking to avenge 5-2 and 2-1 losses the Blue Heat during the regular season.
Both the Lady Lynx and Vancouver also have current Badgers on their rosters, but neither are expected to play this weekend.
Midfielder-forward Kodee Williams had one goal in two matches for Toronto before being sidelined, reportedly due to a knee injury. Midfielder Monica Lam-Feist appeared in seven games for the Whitecaps but reportedly has returned to Madison in advance of UW training camp, which starts Aug. 2.
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Diamond Simpson, an incoming freshman at UW, had a goal and an assist in nine matches for the Hamilton FC Rage (3-7-2), while Grand Valley State (Mich.) forward Ashley Botts (Beloit) scored five goals and added one asist for the Dayton Dutch Lions (5-3-2).
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The Midwest Conference champion Chicago Red Stars (10-1-0) and Sunshine Conference winner Tampa Bay Hellenic (10-1-1) were granted spots in the Women's Premier Soccer League Final Four, which is being hosted by the Red Stars on July 30 and 31 in Lisle, Ill. The teams were set to play Sunday in Florida for a berth in the national semifinals, but playoff-qualifying clubs in the Big Sky Conference notified the league that they would be unable to field teams for the postseason because too many of their players are headed back to college. The East and Pacific conference champions will round out the field for the Final Four; those conference tournaments are this week.
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