Wisconsin Soccer Central

University of Wisconsin forward Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East) and Marquette's Mady Vicker (Whitefish Bay) scored as FC Wisconsin Eclipse Under-23 women's team opened play at the Elite Club National League Finals with a 2-0 victory over FC Virginia on Thursday in Richmond, Va.

Walls put FC Wisconsin Eclipse (4-2-1) ahead in the opening quarter hour and Vicker doubled the advantage about 20 minutes later, while goalkeeper Monica Gonyo (Waukesha Catholic Memorial) posted the clean sheet.

FC Wisconsin Eclipse faces another Virginia side, McLean SA, at 3:30 p.m. Friday before closing out pool play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against FC Dallas. The top two teams in the six-team field, regardless of pool, qualify for Sunday's national final.

USL W-LEAGUE

UW keeper Genevieve Richard made five saves as the Laval Comets scored in second-half stoppage time to beat the host Ottawa Fury 2-1 and clinch the Central Conference regular-season title, ending the Fury's nine-year hold on the championship.

Laval (7-1-3) will play host to the conference final against the winner of the semifinal between Ottawa (6-3-2) and the Toronto Lynx (5-1-5) or K-W United (4-4-2) - the final playoff berth will be determined this weekend as the regular season comes to an end. The Central champion will advance to the W-League finals, which are July 26 to 28 in Bradenton, Fla.