Wisconsin Soccer Central

A trio of Wisconsin natives likely will be involved in the action as Loras (Iowa) makes its third appearance in the NCAA Division III men's soccer national semifinals this week.

Senior defender Malcolm Calbert (Stoughton) anchors the backline for the fourth-ranked Duhawks, while junior Erik Berkowitz (Racine St. Catherine's) is tied for the team lead with eight goals. Freshman midfielder Jorge Simon(Kimberly) has played in all four playoff matches after making just six appearances during the regular season.

Loras  (23-1-1) faces top-ranked Messiah, Pa. (21-0-2) at 11 a.m. Friday in San Antonio, Texas – the Falcons have won a record eight national titles, all since 2000. The Duhawks were eliminated in the semifinals in their previous final four berths in 2007 and '08; coincidentally, Messiah beat Loras 3-0 in the 2008 semifinals.

The Duhawks have won 16 straight matches since their lone loss, a 2-1 setback at UW-Platteville on Sept. 19. No. 10 Ohio Northern (24-2-0) and ninth-ranked Williams, Mass. (16-1-4) meet in the other semifinal – Ohio Northern is the defending champion – with the final at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. All three matches will be streamed live on NCAA.com.

NCAA Division II women

Senior striker Ashley Botts (Beloit) leads third-ranked Grand Valley State (Mich.) into Thursday's national semifinal match against No. 5 UC San Diego (16-2-4) in Evans, Ga. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

Botts has a team-high 17 goals and is tied for third with five assists for the Lakers (20-1-3), who are unbeaten in 11 games (10-0-1) heading into their fourth straight semifinal appearance.

Grand Valley State, which beat UC San Diego 4-0 in 2010 to win its second consecutive national title, lost to St. Rose (N.Y.) 2-1 in last year's final – the No. 20 Golden Knights (20-2-2) face No. 2 West Florida (22-1-0) in the other semifinal. The title game is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, and all three matches will be streamed on NCAA.com.

NCAA Division I men

Senior defender Andrew Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) and eighth-ranked Creighton (16-3-3) shoot for their second straight College Cup semifinal berth when they travel to No. 7 Connecticut (16-3-2) for a quarterfinal Sunday in Storrs, Conn.

Ribeiro has played all but 20 minutes this fall for the Bluejays and has three goals and an assist. Junior striker Carlos McCrary, who's played for the Madison 56ers in the National Premier Soccer League the past two summers, has one goal in 15 appearances. Creighton is unbeaten in 13 since a 2-0 loss to Tulsa on Sept. 25.

NAIA men

No. 24 Jamestown (N.D.), with a trio of 56ers players in the starting XI, lost to host and sixth-ranked Auburn-Montgomery 3-2 in a second-round match Monday night in Montgomery, Ala.

Junior defender Matt Balshaw, junior forward Dominic O'Connor and sophomore midfielder Jack Keeling, three Englishmen who all plan to return to Madison for the 2013 NPSL season, helped the Jimmies (16-5-1) set a program record for victories – the previous mark was 11, set last year.