Wisconsin Soccer Central

For the second time in a month, the SC Waukesha Blue Under-17 boys team will face Cincinnati United Premier Crew Juniors Gold on Friday night with a big prize on the line.

The sides will meet in a group finale at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Overland Park, Kan., with both needing to win to claim a spot in Sunday's national final.

SC Waukesha Blue, however, is the team that controls its own destiny. East Troy's Kai Bottum converted a 63rd-minute penalty kick on Thursday morning to give the Wisconsin team a 1-1 draw with 10-man Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley United.

With four points, SC Waukesha (1-0-1) leads Group A, one ahead of CUP Crew Juniors Gold (1-1-0) and Santa Clara Sporting (1-1-0) – the California team posted a surprising 2-1 victory over CUP on Thursday, two days after losing to SC Waukesha 4-0. SC Waukesha can advance to the final with a win, or a tie if Santa Clara doesn't beat LVU in its finale.

CUP Crew Juniors Gold, meanwhile, needs to win Friday and have Sporting lose or tie to move on. The Ohio team thumped SC Waukesha 6-0 in the Region II final exactly one month ago in Des Moines, Iowa.

On Thursday, LVU (0-1-1) took the lead through Colby Thomas in the 10th minute but were reduced to 10 men after a red card about an hour into the match. SC Waukesha pulled level when Hartland Arrowhead's Colin Dibb – a UW-Milwaukee recruit – was fouled in the box and Bottum finished the ensuing penalty.

• University of Wisconsin midfielder Drew Conner got the start as the Chicago Fire beat Florida's Plantation Copa 4-1 in its second Under-19 boys match on Wednesday. The Fire and LVU are both 1-0-1 and lead the four-team group with four points heading into their game Friday; the top two finishers in the four-team division advance to Saturday night's final to play for the James P. McGuire Cup in a match that will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel.
• Incoming Marquette freshman Jack Alberts and his Raiders FC Premier side rallied for a 2-1 win over longtime rival Galaxy Blue on Thursday to improve to 2-0-0 in Under-18 boys play. The Illinois teams tied in Under-17 group play at nationals last year before Galaxy Blue won 4-1 in the final. Raiders can clinch a return to the final with a win or tie Friday.
• Illinois' Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo, with three Marquette recruits, tied Connecticut FC 0-0 in Under-18 girls action Thursday. Ashley Handwork, who will be a freshman for the Golden Eagles this fall, and 2014 recruits Heather Handwork and Katie Ciesiulka, likely need to beat Oklahoma FC in their group finale Friday to make the final.
• Another member of Marquette's incoming freshman class, Elizabeth Bartels, and Nebraska's LSC EGA Bravo team fell to Georgia's NASA 12 Elite II 1-0 on Wednesday and are 0-1-1 in Under-19 girls competition.