|
 The field for this year's WIAA state boys soccer tournament could look a lot like last year's.
Twelve of the 16 sides that played at state last fall advanced to Saturday's sectional finals, including the defending champions in all three divisions.
In Division 1, reigning champion Milwaukee Marquette (20-0-1) – ranked first in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state poll all year – leads a group of six 2010 state qualifiers that are one step away from return trips to Milwaukee's Uihlein Soccer Park.
Appleton North, last year's runner-up, also is still in the hunt, and the two Division 2 finalists from last season – state champion Waukesha Catholic Memorial and Appleton Fox Valley Lutheran – will be in action Saturday, too. Sturgeon Bay, which lost in the Division 3 semifinals a year ago, advanced to the sectional finals again this year after moving up to Division 2.
Reigning Division 3 champion Racine Prairie School is on the verge of returning to state, despite having their postseason shutout streak ended: Last year, the Hawks became the first team in WIAA history to win the state title and not allow a goal in the process. Prairie School has a chance to avenge one of its losses as it takes on Racine St. Catherine's; the Angels handed the Hawks one of their three 2-1 losses this season.
The Greater Metro Conference has three teams out of the 16 Division 1 sectional finalists, but two of them – Menomonee Falls and Brookfield East – face off Saturday night at Brookfield Central. Menomonee Falls won the teams' conference match 1-0 back on Aug. 23.
Five games pit teams with 20 or more victories against one another, with three of those matches in Division 1. Madison Edgewood, in Division 2, is the only remaining team with a losing record.
Saturday's WIAA sectional finals
Division 1
Green Bay Preble (17-5-2) vs. Kimberly (16-4-0), 3 p.m. at Ashwaubenon
Milwaukee Marquette (20-0-1) at Whitefish Bay (17-5-0), 7 p.m.
Middleton (20-3-1) vs. Madison West (22-2-0), 3 p.m. at Waunakee
Menomonee Falls (19-3-3) vs. Brookfield East (20-4-0), 7 p.m. at Brookfield Central
Wausau East (16-5-0) at Chippewa Falls (19-4-2), 3 p.m.
Waukesha West (21-2-4) at Kettle Moraine (16-6-1), 4 p.m.
Neenah (19-3-1) vs. Appleton North (17-8-2), 7 p.m. at Oshkosh West
Kenosha Tremper (20-2-1) vs. Elkhorn (20-2-1), 7 p.m. at Kenosha Bradford
Division 2
Madison Edgewood (6-11-3) at Mount Horeb (17-2-2), 4 p.m.
Green Bay Notre Dame (22-4-0) vs. Sturgeon Bay (20-2-1), 3 p.m. at Wrightstown
Amery (20-2-1) vs. Appleton Fox Valley Lutheran (17-6-2), 2 p.m. at Stevens Point
New Berlin West (13-7-5) vs. Waukesha Catholic Memorial (13-5-1), 4:30 p.m. at Pewaukee
Division 3
Kohler (24-2-1) at Winnebago Lutheran (24-3-0), 7 p.m.
Milwaukee St. Anthony (19-8-0) at Waupun Central Wisconsin Christian (14-7-1), 3 p.m.
Wausau Newman (19-2-2) vs. Marshfield Columbus (11-9-1), 4 p.m. at Stevens Point
Racine St. Catherine's (16-7-0) vs. Racine Prairie School (18-3-2), 3 p.m. at Kettle Moraine Lutheran - Marquette's 2-0 win over South Milwaukee on Thursday was the legendary program's 650th victory – the Hilltoppers are 650-92-49 in 33 seasons. That includes 24 conference championships and a combined 21 state championships, 15 in the defunct Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association and six in their first 11 years as a member of the WIAA.
- Marquette stayed put in the national rankings this week, remaining fifth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll and the ESPN RISE Fab 50. The Hilltoppers remained No. 1 in the NSCAA Region VI poll, which also include No. 7 Middleton, No. 8 Brookfield East, No. 12 Waukesha West and No. 15 Neenah. All five teams advanced to sectional finals.
|
