Wisconsin Soccer Central

As Rose Lavelle heads into her junior season at the University of Wisconsin, she is considered the top midfielder in women's college soccer.

The NCAA Division I coaches who submitted ballots in Top Drawer Soccer's annual summer survey had Lavelle as the "clear winner" in voting at the position. (Read full article)

Lavelle, a regular for the U.S. Under-23 national team, had two goals and 10 assists in 24 appearances for the Badgers as a sophomore last fall and has eight goals and 17 assists in her 43-game college career.

The 20-year-old from Cincinnati was named a second-team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2014 and has been a first-team, All-Big Ten Conference selection each of her first two seasons at UW.

• Lavelle and the Seattle Sounders Women (10-1-1), who have the best record in the USL W-League, will play host to the Colorado Pride (9-2-1) in the Western Conference final Saturday. The winner earns one of four spots in the W-League Championship, which is July 24 to 26 in Laval, Quebec. Fellow UW midfielder Kinley McNicoll and defender Rashida Beal (Germantown) also play for the Sounders, whose lone loss was a 5-1 decision to the Pride on July 3.
• McNicoll played the full 90 minutes as Canada dropped Ecuador 5-2 in its opener of the Pan American Games on Saturday in Hamilton, Ontario. The Canadians, the defending champions in the competition, face Costa Rica on Wednesday and close out Group B on Sunday against Brazil.
• UW-Milwaukee coach Troy Fabiano named Becky Golas, who played for him at UW-Parkside in 2002, an assistant coach for the Panthers on Tuesday. She joins her husband Steve on the staff for Fabiano in his first season at Milwaukee. "I am very excited to join the Milwaukee women's soccer family," Becky Golas said in a news release. "Having played collegiately for Troy, I know this program is in great hands and I can't wait to get out on the field with the team." Becky (Elk) Golas starred at Bemidji State (Minn.) from 1999 to 2001 before transferring to Parkside, and started her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Michigan State from 2003 to '05. She's also been the head coach at Illinois College (2010 to '13) and an assistant at Angelo State (2005), Millikin, Ill. (2006 and '07) and Lewis & Clark, Ore. (2008 and '09).