Wisconsin Soccer Central

Five state sides are off to Burlington, Iowa, this weekend for the fifth annual Tournament of Champions, a 32-team event featuring some of the top girls soccer teams from Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.

Milwaukee DSHA and Middleton are both in Bracket A, which appears to be the strongest of the three eight-team brackets.

The Dashers (4-2-0), who moved back into the ESPNHS Powerade Fab 50 national rankings this week at No. 49, open tournament play at 1 p.m. Friday against Plainfield North (Ill.), which is 39th in the Fab 50. Then at 8 a.m. Saturday is a matchup against Ankeny, ranked second among Iowa's large schools, or defending Illinois Class 3A state champion Granite City.

On the other side of the bracket, Middleton (5-2-0) takes on Normal Community (Ill.) on Friday and will play Webster Groves Nerinx Hall, ranked third among Missouri's large schools, or St. Charles North (Ill.) on Saturday. The placement matches are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Fifth-ranked Waunakee (7-0-2) is playing in one of the two round-robin divisions at the tournament, with two matches on Friday.

The Warriors will face West Des Moines Valley, Iowa's third-ranked large school, at 11 a.m. and Lockport (Ill.) at 6:30 p.m., then close out the event at 9:45 a.m. Saturday against Visitation Academy – the Vivettes are ranked second among Missouri's medium-sized schools and have won the past two Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 2 state titles.

Schofield D.C. Everest (6-3-2) plays Belleville West (Ill.) at 2:45 p.m. Friday in a Bracket B opener, then faces either Pekin (Ill.) or Maryland Heights Pattonville (Mo.) at 9:45 a.m. Saturday before a 3:15 p.m. placement match.

In Bracket C, Racine Horlick (4-3-0) squares off against Glenbrook North (Ill.) at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Rebels will play Jefferson City (Mo.) or Peoria Christian (Ill.) at 11:15 a.m. Saturday ahead of a 5 p.m. placement game.

• Sophomore Felicia Retrum scored in the 45th minute and set up junior Marissa Mears' goal 12 minutes later as Verona beat Madison Memorial 2-0 on Thursday, ending the Spartans' 34-game Big Eight Conference winning streak. Senior Dylan Haller made four saves for the Wildcats (6-1-0, 4-0-0), who were the first conference team to beat Memorial (3-5-0, 3-1-0) since Madison La Follette's 2-1 overtime victory back on April 24, 2008.
• DSHA remained atop the ESPNHS Wisconsin top-three rankings, followed by Brookfield Central and Waunakee. However, Central beat the Dashers 1-0 in a Greater Metro Conference match Tuesday, with Vanessa Alwan's 29th-minute goal the difference, then Germantown handed the Lancers their first loss with a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory Thursday as Taylor Koepke and Jennifer Teeters scored in a four-minute span in the second half.
• Cedarburg is the only state team in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America Region IV rankings, checking in at No. 7.