Wisconsin Soccer Central

The Bulldogs needed to win their final match of the Madison Soccer Association season just to finish the regular season with a winning record, and went into the Division 2 playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the four-team bracket.

But when the dust – or little black pellets, as it were – settled Sunday night at Goodman Pitch at Verona's Reddan Soccer Park, they were No. 1.

Jason Hook scored in the first half and Barret Van Sicklen (Madison West) doubled the lead after the break as the Bulldogs held off Madison Hotspur 2-1 in the final.

Both teams pulled off upsets in Friday night's semifinals at Goodman Pitch: The Bulldogs got past top-seeded Epic FC 5-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw, while third-seeded Hotspur edged No. 2 seed Vilas Rangers 3-2.

The finalists split their regular-season meetings, each side posting a 2-1 victory, so the score of the final probably wasn't too unexpected.

Steve Foulks (Madison West/MATC) found Scott Longley (Green Bay East/Edgewood College) down the right flank, and Longley got to the end line and crossed the ball back for Hook to tap in from inside the 6-yard box as the Bulldogs (7-5-2) took the lead midway through the first half.

Van Sicklen, one of Foulks' high school teammates, made it 2-0 when he bent a right-footed shot from near the top of the "D" in to the far post midway through the second.

Hotspur (7-4-1) pulled one back off a corner kick in the final 5 minutes to set up an exciting finish, but the Bulldogs saw out the narrow victory to claim the title.

In the semifinals, Epic (8-0-5) equalized against the Bulldogs with about 10 minutes remaining, but goalkeeper Eric Hook (Verona) saved the first penalty to set the tone in the shootout.

Later Sunday night at Goodman Pitch, UW-Platteville's Max Benrud (Sun Prairie) scored in the 86th minute to lift third-seeded Madison United over No. 2 seed Paradigm 2-1 in a weather-delayed Division 1 semifinal.

Mbodje Sarr (Madison East), Benrud's college teammate, also scored as United (7-6-2) earned a spot in the final against two-time defending champion Madison Fire (11-1-3). The date and time of the final hasn't been announced. The Fire, who beat Deportivo 2-0 in their semifinal on June 1, won both regular-season meetings against United this season: 1-0 on Oct. 6 and 2-1 on April 27.

Ali Barry (Madison West) was denied the opener on a great save by Paradigm keeper Kyle Dillman (Madison La Follette), but ended up playing a role in the first goal later as Sarr finished off his pass to give United the lead in the final seconds of the first half.

Paradigm (7-6-2), which split its earlier matches against United, leveled the score with about 20 minutes remaining through Greg Dezell (Oconomowoc/Edgewood College). But Benrud's shot from the top of the box on the left side found the back of the net with 4 minutes to play, sending United into the final.

• The Wisconsin Soccer Leagues Men's Under-23 league started its season Saturday, with the Madison 56ers beating Madison Soccer 4-1 in the opener. The 56ers, Croatian Eagles, NEW United, North Shore United and Racine United all return to the league from last season, and are joined by newcomers Brookfield and Madison Soccer. Schedule
• Marquette's Charlie Lyon made five saves for his first clean sheet of the season Sunday as the Chicago Fire Under-23 team (3-2-2) blanked the host Toronto Lynx 1-0 in a USL Premier Development League match.
• UW's Genevieve Richard continued her sterling start to the USL W-League season, recording 10 saves Sunday in the Laval Comets' 0-0 draw with the Toronto Lady Lynx. Richard has stopped all 22 shots she's faced this season, posting shutouts in each of the first four matches for the Comets (2-0-2).