Wisconsin Soccer Central

Upsets were few and far between as the 32nd annual WIAA boys soccer tournament kicked off in earnest across the state Tuesday.

Higher-seeded teams have advanced in 119 of the 132 games through the first two rounds of the tournament – there were five regional quarterfinals in divisions 3 and 4 on Saturday, with the vast majority of sides starting their postseason with Tuesday's regional semifinals.

The biggest upset came in the Division 3 Mount Horeb sectional, where seventh-seeded Wisconsin Dells knocked off No. 2 seed Madison Edgewood 1-0. Derek Maniak scored in the 59th minute and his brother, fellow sophomore Michael, made 12 saves as the Chiefs (4-9-1) surprised the Crusaders (4-13-0) at Reddan Soccer Park in Verona.

Three No. 6 seeds got past third-seeded sides to move on to Thursday's regional finals, including two in Division 1: Manitowoc, which beat Oshkosh West 2-1 in the Germantown sectional, and Madison East, a 2-1 double-overtime winner over rival Madison La Follette in the Lake Geneva Badger sectional. In Division 2, sixth-seeded New Berlin Eisenhower blanked No. 3 seed Wauwatosa West 2-0.

The other eight lower-seeded teams to advance Tuesday upset teams seeded just one spot ahead of them.

That included the two lower-seeded teams to advance in the 35 Division 4 matches played so far: Fifth-seeded La Crosse Aquinas, which tipped No. 4 seed Wausau Newman 3-2 in the Marshfield sectional, and No. 5 seed Kewaunee, which edged fourth-seeded Gibraltar/Sevastopol 2-1 in the Waupun Central Wisconsin Christian sectional.

Overall, higher-seeded teams are 117-12-3 – the three ties went to penalty kicks, with the higher-seeded team advancing in two of the games. Here's a breakdown of the records by division:

Division 1 – 28-4-0
Division 2 – 26-4-1
Division 3 – 30-2-2
Division 4 – 33-2-0

• Nearly 60 percent of the playoff games played so far – 79 of 132 – have been shutouts. On the other end of the scale, 19 teams have scored 10 goals or more in a game.
• Milwaukee Marquette's 12-0 win over Milwaukee Pulaski-Arts on Tuesday was the 20th consecutive playoff victory for the three-time defending Division 1 state champions. The Hilltoppers have outscored opponents 117-10 in the streak, which dates to a 1-0 double-overtime loss to Hartland Arrowhead in the state semifinals on Oct. 29, 2009.
• After ending Marquette's 56-game unbeaten streak against state teams with a 3-0 victory last week, Brookfield East leapt into this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 at No. 15. The Hilltoppers fell from sixth to 22nd.
• Unbeaten Hartland Arrowhead moved into the Student Sports Fab 50 national rankings this week at No. 45, two spots ahead of Marquette – which dropped from ninth to 47th.
• Brookfield East moved up to No. 2 in the NSCAA Region VI rankings, which also include Marquette at No. 3, Arrowhead at No. 6, Kettle Moraine at No. 12 and Green Bay Preble at No. 15.

Editor's note: This article has been edited from its original version to reflect information that became available after posting.