Wisconsin Soccer Central

If you just looked at his goals and assists, you might not be too impressed with the season Tony Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW-Green Bay) had for the Rochester Rhinos – the midfielder had four goals and two assists in his second USL season.

But individual statistics don't always tell the story, and the biggest number for Walls and the Rhinos this season was one: They lost just one game on the season en route to winning the USL championship.

Walls, who wore the captain's armband for the league's top team, was named to the All-USL First Team this week for his efforts. He was one of three Rhinos players on the top team, as voted on by team management and a league-wide media panel.

Rochester was 17-1-10 during the regular season and finished 22-1-11 in all competitions, advancing to the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Not only was Walls a leader, he was on the field while doing so: He logged a team-high 3,023 minutes, playing an amazing 96 percent of the possible minutes for the Rhinos.

The 25-year-old Walls is back in his hometown for his second season with the Milwaukee Wave, who open their Major Arena Soccer League season Saturday night at the Chicago Mustangs.

On Twitter: @TWalls20

• While she was part of National Women's Soccer League championship teams the past two seasons, Sarah Hagen (Appleton North/UW-Milwaukee) wasn't a locked-on starter for FC Kansas City. But the striker is a big part of the plans for the expansion Orlando Pride, who acquired Hagen in a trade and unveiled her along with U.S. national team star Alex Morgan and Canadian midfielder Kaylyn Kyle on Monday. "Sarah has a strong track record of scoring goals both domestically and abroad," Orlando general manager Paul McDonough said in a news release. "We expect Sarah and Alex will form a potentially lethal partnership on the attack." Hagen, who turns 26 next month, had eight goals and three assists in 25 appearances for FCKC the past two years after scoring 43 goals in 60 matches for German club Bayern Munich. Former U.S. coach Tom Sermanni, who gave Hagen her two caps with the national team at the 2014 Algarve Cup, is Orlando's coach. The Pride got Hagen and FCKC's second-round pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft (No. 15) in exchange for the Pride's second-round choice in the 2017 draft. On Twitter: @sarahapplehagen
• The other four players with state ties who were with NWSL teams during the 2015 season are all available for selection in Monday's expansion draft, during which Orlando will continue to build its roster. Midfielder Mary Luba (Shorewood/Marquette), forward Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW) and goalkeeper Michele Dalton (UW) were left unprotected by the Chicago Red Stars, while Canadian national team defender Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) wasn't protected by the Houston Dash.
• After five seasons in Sweden, Andrew Stadler (Wauwatosa West) is poised to play in the country's top division next year. Stadler and Östersunds FK tied host Syrianska FC 1-1 in a Superettan match Tuesday night, clinching promotion to the Allsvenskan for the 2016 season – the first time the club, which was formed through a merger of three clubs in 1996, will play in the top flight. Östersunds (17-4-8) has 59 points, one behind league-leading Jönköpings Södra IF and four ahead of third-place IK Sirius FK heading into Sunday's final matches of the season. Stadler, 27, has two goals and two assists in 10 appearances (seven starts) since joining Östersunds from Landskrona BoIS in August. On Twitter: @AndrewStadler
• Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season as the Columbus Crew routed visiting D.C. United 5-0 in a Major League Soccer regular-season finale Sunday to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The 25-year-old Finlay tied for 11th in the league in goals and finished fifth with 13 assists in 34 appearances (all starts) for the Crew (15-11-8). He has 23 goals and 20 assists over the past two seasons; the only other MLS player who has more than 20 goals and 20 assists in that span is Los Angeles Galaxy striker Robbie Keane (39 goals and 22 assists). Finlay, who earned a spot on the MLS Team of the Week, is just the seventh player in Columbus history to reach 20 goals and 20 assists in a career. The Crew open the playoffs Sunday on the road against the Montreal Impact in the first leg of a conference semifinal series – Game 2 will be Nov. 8. On Twitter: @EthanFinlay13
• Calum Mallace (Marquette) played the final 19 minutes Thursday as the third-seeded Impact blanked visiting Toronto FC 3-0 in an Eastern Conference knockout-round match to advance to the series against the Crew. It was the first playoff victory for Montreal. On Twitter: @CMallace10  
• New York Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch (Racine Case) got to lift the Supporters' Shield – awarded annually to the top regular-season team in MLS – in the league stadium closest to his hometown and in front of the fans he played in front of for eight years. The Red Bulls beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 in a regular-season finale Sunday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., to secure their second Supporters' Shield in three years. New York (18-10-6) and FC Dallas finished the 34-game schedule with identical records, but the Red Bulls won the tiebreaker and the trophy in their first season under Marsch. Top-seeded New York will open the playoffs Sunday at D.C. United in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game 2 will be Nov. 8 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. On Twitter: @jessemarsch
• Andrija Novakovich (Muskego) scored the opening goal and played a role in the second Monday night as host Reading blanked Norwich City 2-0 in an Under-21 Premier League Division 1 match in England. The 19-year-old striker gave the Royals the lead in the 14th minute, running on to a pass from Dominic Samuel and slotting a shot to the near post for his second goal of the season. Then in the 79th, Novakovich headed a cross from Dominic Hyam into the 6-yard box, where teammate Sami Fridjonsson nodded in a goal after the Canaries couldn't clear the ball out. Reading (4-1-2) is second in the league, two points behind Sunderland but having played one fewer game. On Twitter: @AndrijaNovakov3