Wisconsin Soccer Central

Thirty-two prep girls teams will move within one win of the WIAA state tournament on Thursday and Friday.

Sectional semifinals are scheduled across the state, with the winners to play for state berths in sectional finals Saturday.

The seedings done by coaches to set the brackets have held up well, with higher seeds posting a 162-20-4 record through the first two rounds – such teams went 54-8-2 in last Saturday's regional finals.

Three sixth-seeded teams upset No. 3 seeds to qualify for sectionals: Waukesha North (1-0 over Monona Grove) and Janesville Craig (2-0 over Burlington) in Division 1 and Milwaukee University School (2-1 over Milwaukee Thomas More) in Division 3. The other five upsets last Saturday were No. 5 seeds knocking off No. 4 seeds.

Shutouts continue to be a hallmark of this year's tournament: 126 of the 186 matches (68 percent) so far have featured clean sheets.

There will be a new state champion in Division 1 after reigning champion Madison West, seeded fourth in the Verona sectional, lost to No. 5 seed Middleton 2-1 on Saturday. Last year, the Regents won six straight one-goal games in claiming their fifth state title. The defending champions in the other two divisions, Waukesha Catholic Memorial (Division 2) and Lake Country Lutheran (Division 3), are still in contention.

One Division 1 sectional semifinal was moved back one day: Second-seeded Racine Horlick will play host to Janesville Craig at 1 p.m. Friday, with the winner to play in the sectional final the next night in Elkhorn.

Thursday's sectional semifinal schedule

• The Elite Soccer Report Wisconsin rankings were unchanged this week, with Waunakee (17-1-1) leading the way, followed by Menomonee Falls (17-1-2) and Waukesha Catholic Memorial (19-0-1).