Wisconsin Soccer Central

The 31st season of WIAA prep girls soccer wrapped up Saturday at Milwaukee's Uihlein Soccer Park, with Cedarburg winning its first state championship in the Division 1 final after Waukesha Catholic Memorial and Ozaukee added to their trophy collections in divisions 2 and 3.

Let's take a look at some notes from the final girls soccer state tournament with three divisions –  a fourth will be added next spring.

• Cedarburg (18-3-1) finished unbeaten in 19 matches (18-0-1) against Wisconsin teams – all three of the Bulldogs' losses came to Missouri teams at the St. Louis Classic in early April, in their first three games of the weather-delayed season. They outscored state sides 69-8 with 12 shutouts and the only state team to hold Cedarburg in check was Brookfield East, which earned a 0-0 tie on May 25.
• Bulldogs senior midfielder Josee Stiever, a Minnesota recruit and the two-time Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year, tied a Division 1 state tournament record with three assists in Saturday's 4-1 win over Waukesha West.
• Saturday's game was vastly different for Cedarburg than its first two appearances in state championship games: The Bulldogs lost to Whitefish Bay 4-1 in overtime in the one-division final in 1994 (before golden goal/sudden death) and were routed by Brookfield Central 7-0 in the Division 1 final in 2004.
• With its sixth WIAA title and second in a row, Waukesha Catholic Memorial moved within one of Whitefish Bay's record total of seven. This is the second time the Crusaders have won back-to-back championships – they also did so in 2006 and '07 – and they have played in eight of the past 10 Division 2 state finals, winning six times.
• Speaking of which, Catholic Memorial's 3-0 win over Mount Horeb marked the 10th consecutive year that a private school has won the Division 2 championship.
• Catholic Memorial matched two Division 2 state tournament records it already held, scoring 10 goals to match the 2007 team's total, and not allowing a goal on the weekend – eight other Division 2 state champions also have done that.
• However, the Crusaders (23-0-1) became the first team to go unbeaten and win the Division 2 state title in the 17-year history of the division. The most recent team in any division to cap an unbeaten season with a championship was Appleton North, which went 23-0-1 in winning the Division 1 title in 2011.
• Ozaukee's 3-1 victory over Racine Prairie School in Saturday's first match was the Warriors' fourth state title, tied with Brookfield Central for fourth-most in WIAA history. They also won in 2003, '05 and '06.
• Eric Liebergen has coached Ozaukee to all four of its championships, tying him for second in state history for titles for a coach. Whitefish Bay's Mark Botterill (1994, 1998 to 2000) and Brookfield Central's Bryan Yenor (2002 to '05) also led teams to four championships; Catholic Memorial's John Burke extended his record to six Saturday afternoon.
• Prairie School set a dubious record with the loss, becoming the first team to lose five WIAA girls soccer state finals – they also lost to Ozaukee in the 2003 final and also fell just short in 2004, '10 and '12. On the bright side, the Hawks do have more silver runner-up trophies than any team in the state, one more than Neenah and Monona Grove.
• All three state champions were seeded first in their respective sectionals and were ranked first in their divisions in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state polls for the majority of the season – Catholic Memorial topped the Division 2 poll all year, while Cedarburg and Ozaukee spent all but one week in the top spot.