Wisconsin Soccer Central

The University of St. Thomas is located in St. Paul, Minn., but the school's men's soccer team has a strong Wisconsin influence.

The eighth-ranked Tommies (20-1-3), who will play Tufts, Mass. (13-5-2) in the NCAA Division III national semifinals at 10 a.m. Friday in Salem, Va., have a dozen state players on their roster.

Senior defender Mark Heydt (Brookfield East), a transfer from UW-Milwaukee, leads the team with seven goals and 10 assists. He's started every match for the Tommies, as has junior midfielder Alex Schnobrich (Hudson), who has two goals and five assists. And sophomore Aidan Hogan (Kohler) is St. Thomas' main goalkeeper, with a 13-0-1 record, 10 shutouts and a 0.33 goals-against average.

The Tommies were unbeaten in their first 17 matches before their lone loss, a 2-0 setback against Augsburg in their regular-season finale. St. Thomas avenged the loss with a 1-0 overtime victory in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference semifinals; junior midfielder Connor Young (Menomonee Falls) scored the golden goal, assisted by Heydt and junior forward Christian Elliehausen (Milwaukee Marquette), while Hogan made two saves for the clean sheet.

There will be a state representative in the other Division III men's semifinal, too. Sophomore defender James Jeninga (Milwaukee Lutheran) has made 10 appearances for No. 16 Calvin, Mich. (22-2-0), which plays Brandeis, Mass. (13-5-4) at 12:30 p.m. Jeninga has come off the bench in three of the Knights' four NCAA tournament matches.

• The Division III women's Final Four features a quartet of Wisconsin natives, with two players each on No. 23 Brandeis (16-3-4) and eighth-ranked Washington-St. Louis (17-2-3) – the teams will met in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Salem. Freshman defender Katie Hayes (Eau Claire Regis) has one goal in 18 appearances (three starts) for the Judges, while sophomore midfielder Haley Prudent (Madison Memorial) has played in three matches. Hayes converted her kick from the spot as Brandeis got past fifth-ranked College of New Jersey 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the second round – the Judges upset previously unbeaten and top-ranked William Smith (N.Y.) 4-3 in a quarterfinal last Sunday. Junior defenders Megan Wolf (Racine Prairie School) and Elise Brown (Madison West), meanwhile, are regulars on a Bears backline that has posted 10 consecutive clean sheets and has allowed just six goals on the season – Wolf has one assist in 22 appearances (three starts) and Brown has three goals in 19 games (three starts). The winner will face sixth-ranked Messiah, Pa. (21-2-0) or No. 11 Chicago (18-3-1) in Saturday's final.
• Two state players will be part of the Division II men's tournament, which starts Thursday in Kansas City, Mo. Charles Salazar (Racine Prairie School) is a junior for sixth-ranked Rockhurst, Mo. (18-2-3), which faces freshman Frankie Herrera (Madison West) and No. 4 Charleston, W.Va. (18-2-2) in a semifinal at 2 p.m. Both state strikers have made one appearance for their teams this season. No. 2 Wingate, N.C. (17-1-0) plays No. 10 UC San Diego (19-2-2) in the other semifinal; former Milwaukee Wave forward Nick Perera is an assistant coach for San Diego.
• Senior midfielder Anna Stadler (Wauwatosa West) scored a 43rd-minute equalizer, but Benedictine (Kan.) used a pair of second-half goals to beat Cardinal Stritch 3-1 in a first-round match of the NAIA women's tournament Nov. 19 in Atchison, Kan. Stadler's 14th goal of the season came on a free kick for the Wolves (14-6-0), who were making their first appearance in the national tournament.
• Maranatha Baptist finished fourth in the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II tournament last weekend in Kissimmee, Fla. The Sabercats (6-9-1) played a scoreless draw against Randall (Okla.) in the third-place match Nov. 19 and lost 4-3 on penalty kicks – the same result as their semifinal against Grace Bible (Mich.) a day earlier. Maranatha senior midfielder Audrey Risma and senior defender Rachel Kibler (New Lisbon) were named to the all-tournament team.