For the second time in five days, Kieran DeGroot scored, Austin Watzka posted a shutout and Green Bay Notre Dame knocked off a state-ranked team.
DeGroot converted off a pass from fellow senior Greg Michalski in the 91st minute as the Tritons outlasted previously unbeaten Pewaukee 1-0 in double overtime in a WIAA Division 3 state semifinal Thursday night at rainy Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee.
Watzka made six saves in his 10th clean sheet of the season for Notre Dame (21-3-4), which is unbeaten in its past 16 matches (13-0-3) and has outscored foes 18-0 in five playoff games.
The Tritons – ranked fourth in the season's final Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state poll – will look to win their fourth state title at noon Saturday, when they take on Ashland in the final at Time Warner Cable Stadium.
Watzka and Pewaukee senior goalkeeper Garrett Shibilski kept the match scoreless into the second overtime. Shibilski finished with four saves for the top-ranked Pirates (20-1-3), who have been ousted in the semifinals in each of their three state appearances.
On Saturday, De Groot scored both goals in Notre Dame's 2-0 win over fifth-ranked Appleton Xavier in a sectional final.
If anyone was going to score a winning goal for Milwaukee University School, the odds were pretty good it would be Isaac Schlenker.
The senior striker stayed with a deflected pass from Jason Seter and fired a shot past Sturgeon Bay keeper Caleb Owens in the 98th minute to lift the fourth-ranked Wildcats to a 1-0 double-overtime victory in the inaugural Division 4 state semifinal.
Schlenker has 34 goals – 12 of those game-winners – for University School (19-2-3), which will face No. 2 Racine Prairie School at 10 a.m. Saturday for the first Division 4 state title.
This will be the Wildcats' first appearance in a WIAA state final, but the school did win Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association Division 2 state titles in 1993, '95 and '96 – beating none other than Prairie School for each of those championships.
Senior keeper Jack Wells made three saves for his 16th clean sheet for University School. Owens stopped six shots to hold the Wildcats at bay into the final minutes, but the Clippers (18-7-1) lost in the semifinals for the third time in as many state trips.