Wisconsin Soccer Central

Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) heads into his senior season with great expectations.

The Creighton forward was named to the College Soccer News Preseason All-America team for the second straight year.

Finlay was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and a semifinalist for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy last season, when he ranked seventh in the nation in goals (15) and points (34). He was a second-team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2010.

Finlay didn't play Saturday night as the 10th-ranked Bluejays tied No. 2 and defending NCAA champion Akron 1-1 in an exhibition match at the National Soccer Festival in Fort Wayne, Ind. Junior Andrew Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) put Creighton ahead with a goal in the first half.

• CSN expects to see improvement from the University of Wisconsin men's team, listing the Badgers in their "Five That May Surprise in 2011." UW was 4-13-3 overall and last in the seven-team Big Ten Conference regular season with a 1-4-1 record last fall in coach John Trask's first season. "The Badgers are not likely to finish in the upper echelon of the Big Ten Conference in 2011 because the talent gap between the Badgers and the frontrunners is still pretty large. However, the gap is closing," CSN writes. "With their blossoming young talent supplemented by what looks to be a very good 2011 recruiting class, the Badgers stand to significantly improve on last year's record."
• Sophomore goalkeeper Ciro Martinez, a transfer from Florida Atlantic, posted the shutout as the Badgers and Denver played a 0-0 draw in an exhibition opener Friday night at the National Soccer Festival. The Pioneers are 19th in the Goal.com preseason rankings and 29th in the CSN Preseason Top 30. UW plays host to Loyola (Ill.) at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the McClimon Complex in its final exhibition match before next Saturday's season opener against Western Illinois.
• Swedish freshman defender Axel Sjoberg scored in the first minute, and the Marquette men scored four times in a 9-minute span en route to a 6-1 victory over NCAA Division II UW-Parkside in their exhibition finale Saturday afternoon in Kenosha. Sophomore forward Adam Lysak (Milton) and junior forward Andy Huftalin scored two goals apiece and senior midfielder Calum Mallace converted a penalty kick and had two assists for the Golden Eagles, who beat Loyola (Ill.) 2-0 in their other exhibition match and open the season next Saturday night at Illinois-Chicago.
• Kevin Brennan is the new men's coach at NAIA Cardinal Stritch, promoted from his graduate assistant role to succeed Jeff Bohacek (Waukesha South/UW-Whitewater). Brennan, a native of England who was a four-year starter for Bohacek and the Wolves from 2003 to '07, was an assistant at Viterbo and has been active in the coaching scene in Milwaukee: He was an assistant in the Milwaukee Pius High School boys program and currently is an academy coach at Bavarian SC and the Whitefish Bay boys coach. Bohacek stepped down after six seasons in the program, the past four as head coach, to become a coach at Whitefish Bay Dominican and to spend more time with his family. He compiled a 35-29-6 record as head coach.
• Defender John Pothast of Lake Zurich, Ill., a Marquette recruit, is ranked 55th on CSN's list of the top 165 recruits in the Class of 2012. Drew Conner from Cary, Ill., a midfielder who has verbally committed to UW, checks in at No. 79. Two Wisconsin players are on the list: Milwaukee Marquette forward Patrick Hodan, a Notre Dame recruit, at No. 91 and Madison native Benjamin Borns-Moore, who attends Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn., at No. 123.
• Shorewood native Louis Bennett, the son of the Marquette coach of the same name, is 101st on CSN's list of the top 150 recruits for the Class of 2013.
• Freshman Justine Hovden (Lake Geneva Badger) came off the bench in her college debut and scored in Baylor's 3-0 win over Sam Houston State on Friday in Waco, Texas. Hovden, who played 47 minutes in the match, beat three defenders and scored on a left-footed shot to the far post from 20 yards out in the 44th minute to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
• Sophomore midfielder Alex Melin (Verona) opened the scoring in Iowa's 2-0 victory over DePaul on Friday in Chicago, also finding the back of the net from 20 yards out in the 44th minute.