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 The FC Milwaukee Under-18 girls team is one win away from playing for a national championship.
Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East), who will start her career at the University of Wisconsin in a few weeks, scored in the 76th minute as the Nationals slipped past Florida's Team Boca 1-0 Thursday morning at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships at the Reach 11 Complex in Phoenix.
FC Milwaukee faces Region I champion FC Stars of Masschusetts at 10 a.m. Friday with a spot in Sunday's final on the line. If there is a winner in the match, that team will advance to play Colorado Rush Nike with a victory in the pool finale; the Nationals would qualify for the final with a draw.
For the second straight day, FC Milwaukee's defense was stout. While the Nationals lost to Region IV champion Colorado Rush 1-0 on Wednesday, the lone goal came on a well-struck shot from distance.
"I've been really impressed with how solid we've been defensively," FC Milwaukee coaching director Pete Knezic said in a news release posted on the club's website. "We really haven't let our opponent's threaten our penalty area."
Marquette recruit Jacie Jermier (McFarland) is expected to miss Friday's match due to a strained calf.
Under-19 boys
UW midfielder Joey Tennyson (Menomonee Falls) opened the scoring in the 10th minute as the Chicago Fire Juniors held off the Dallas Texans 3-2 to clinch a berth in Sunday's final.
Badgers forward Chris Prince and Marquette midfielder Bryan Ciesiulka also are on the roster for the Fire, who beat Arizona's Sereno White 1-0 in their opener Wednesday. They close out pool play Friday morning against Baltimore Bays Chelsea (1-0-1), which is in prime contention for the other spot in the final.
Under-19 girls
Catie Sessions (UW) and the Woodbury Inferno lost to Real Colorado National 2-0 on Thursday night after beating the Dallas Texans 1-0 in their first match.
The Minnesota side can earn a rematch against Real Colorado in Sunday's final with a win or tie against New Jersey's PDA Tsunami (0-1-1) on Friday night.
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