Wisconsin Soccer Central

After seeding meetings across the state wrapped up this week, the WIAA released the pairings for its 32nd annual girls soccer tournament.

This year's field includes 251 teams – one fewer than last spring's record total. The 64 largest schools were placed in Division 1 and the next 64 make up Division 2, while 62 teams will play in Division 3 and 61 sides are in the inaugural Division 4 field.

All but six teams will play in regional semifinals June 5. Ashland and Wrightstown received byes in Division 3, while Menasha St. Mary Central, New Holstein and Racine St. Catherine's are the Division 4 teams that advance directly to regional finals on June 7.

Sectional semifinals are June 12, with the 16 sectional finals June 14. Two sectional final sites are still to be determined, one in Division 3 and the other in Division 4. The state tournament is June 19 to 21 at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee – Division 3 and 4 semifinals are June 19, followed by Division 1 and 2 semifinals on June 20 and all four state finals on June 21.

The WIAA website posted the brackets in a new format, with all the sectionals available at one link. Click on the "Sectional Matchups" links at the top of the page to move between divisions.

WIAA tournament brackets

• Whitefish Bay (16-2-3), which outscored foes 30-4 in winning its final 11 games of the regular season, moved up five spots to No. 40 in this week's Student Sports Fab 50 national rankings. The Blue Dukes remained eighth in the website's Great Lakes Region rankings, while Milwaukee DSHA (13-3-1) rose one place to ninth.
• Brenna Shea scored early and fellow senior forward Ellen Jesse scored late as host Middleton beat Madison Memorial 2-0 in a winner-take-all matchup Friday night to claim its sixth Big Eight Conference title. The Cardinals finished 8-1-0 in conference play – it's the first time since 2001 that the Big Eight champion wasn't undefeated.
• Emily Mouille scored her 34th goal in the 18th minute, and fellow senior Macie Maulbetsch converted a penalty kick in the final seconds as host Waunakee extended its winning streak to 11 with a 2-0 victory over DSHA – ranked first in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Division 1 state poll – Friday night. Mouille, who is headed to Marquette in the fall, also has nine assists and has played a role in 65 percent of the goals for the Warriors (17-5-0), ranked third in Division 2.
• Junior Aly Quass scored four goals in Whitewater's 10-0 victory over host Clinton in a Rock Valley Conference match Thursday, becoming the first player in program history to score 50 goals in a career.
• Here are the state leaders in goals and assists, according to statistics reported to the Wisconsin Sports Network. Full statistics on WSN