Wisconsin Soccer Central

Troy Fabiano (Kenosha Bradford) left the UW-Parkside women's soccer program after 17 years in January to take over at UW-Milwaukee. Last week, the Rangers turned to another Milwaukee school to find his successor.

Brittany Nikolic was named the fourth coach in the program's 21-year history on Monday, taking the reins of the highly successful NCAA Division II team after six seasons as head coach at Division III Alverno.

"UW-Parkside women's soccer program is positioned to continue as one of the top teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with Brittany Nikolic at the helm," athletic director Tamie Falk-Day said in a news release. "Brittany knows firsthand what it means to be a student-athlete in a successful program, having played at Stanford, while her recruiting knowledge and passion for the game will be reflected immediately in the level of players she will bring to the program."

Nikolic earned honorable mention All-Pacific-10 Conference honors twice during her career at Stanford. The Los Angeles native spent time as an assistant at Division I programs Northwestern, Nevada-Las Vegas and UW-Milwaukee before taking over an Alverno program that had posted just 20 wins in its eight-year history.

During Nikolic's tenure, the Inferno went 42-75-1 and set the single-season school record for wins three times – her 2013 team finished 10-10-0, the program's only non-losing season in its 14-year history.

"Brittany has played a significant role in building our soccer program," Alverno athletic director Brad Duckworth said in a news release. "Six short years ago, when she was hired to become our first full-time head coach, she inherited a program that struggled to be competitive and have significant numbers. The soccer program has consistently grown under her leadership, and has not only stabilized, but laid the foundation to become one of the up-and-coming programs in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. ... Parkside's gain is certainly our loss, but we wish Brittany nothing but success in with her future teams."

UW-Parkside, which has recorded 16 consecutive winning seasons, finished 18-1-3 and won the GLVC regular-season and tournament titles last season. The Rangers open the 2015 season Sept. 4 at home against Alderson Broaddus (W.Va.).

• Center back Sam Brotherton, an incoming freshman at the University of Wisconsin, scored as New Zealand routed Myanmar 5-1 in its final group match at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup on Friday in his native Auckland. The Junior All Whites finished 1-1-1 in Group A, behind Ukraine and the U.S., and advanced to the knockout round at the tournament for the first time. Brotherton has played all 270 minutes for New Zealand, which plays Portugal on Thursday. He scored on a header off a corner kick in the 81st minute, part of a five-goal comeback for the host team. (Watch highlights below)

• Madison College will renovate its soccer and softball fields thanks to a $6 million donation from the Goodman Foundation. The Irwin A. & Robert D. Goodman Sports Complex is scheduled to be completed in fall 2016 at the junior college's Truax Campus. The gift is the largest financial contribution in the school's 103-year history and the largest donation awarded by the Goodman Foundation. In 2012, the foundation donated $663,000 to the Madison Area Youth Soccer Association as part of renovations at its Reddan Soccer Park in Verona – the FieldTurf stadium field at the facility is named Goodman Pitch. The WolfPack's men's soccer program started in 1998, while the women's team made its debut last fall.