The Kickoff: Saturday, Aug. 3
Your roundup of soccer news across Wisconsin and beyond
Top of the box
Before the UW-Green Bay men’s team opens its first season under coach John O’Reilly with an exhibition next Friday against Marquette, as many as four Phoenix players could be in action in tonight’s USL League Two final between host Peoria City (11-1-4) and the Seacoast United Phantoms (16-1-0). Tommy Coughlin has two goals and an assist in 14 appearances (all starts) and fellow midfielder Myles Sophanavong has an assist in 11 games (3 starts) for the host Carp, while defender So Nishikawa has one goal in 16 appearances (12 starts) and forward Chris Album has four goals in 11 matches (4 starts) for the Phantoms. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and the match will be streamed live on SportsEngine Play.
Amateur
There’s a full day of soccer in Wisconsin Dells today, with four Wisconsin Challenge Cup matches — including the first women’s competition — and the final of the inaugural Wisconsin Cup being held at Woodside Sports Complex.
This will be the 80th men’s Wisconsin Challenge Cup, and the second after the event returned for the third time following two breaks. The tournament was first contested in 1922 and was played through 1992, but wasn’t held from 1993 to ‘96. It returned in 1997 and was played through 2003, then wasn’t held again until last year, when Madison United won it. The defending champions are back again this year as part of some late changes that saw Wisconsin Primary Amateur Soccer League champion Lobos FC and Madison Soccer Association side PHFC withdraw. Madison United, Milwaukee Premier League champion FC Wisconsin Brewers and Northern Wisconsin Soccer League Division Two champion Member FC will play a round-robin, with a three-player shootout following each game for tiebreaker purposes. Madison United beat the Brewers 3-1 in a semifinal at last year’s tournament. List of Challenge Cup champions
Meanwhile, Milwaukee City AFC and Isthmus City FC face off in the inaugural women’s Challenge Cup at 2 p.m. The teams split their Milwaukee Premier League matches this summer, with each team winning at home: Milwaukee City’s 3-0 victory on Wednesday avenged a 2-1 setback to Isthmus City 2-1 on July 20 in Madison.
WISCONSIN CHALLENGE CUP
At Woodside Sports Complex, Wisconsin Dells
Men (round-robin)
Game 1: FC Wisconsin Brewers (Milwaukee Premier League) vs. Madison United (Madison Soccer Association), 11 a.m.*
Game 2: Member FC (Northern Wisconsin Soccer League) vs. Game 1 loser, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Member FC vs. Game 1 winner, 5 p.m.*
Women
Final
Milwaukee City AFC vs. Isthmus City FC, 2 p.m.
* - live stream on WSL Facebook pageSuperior City FC and FC Milwaukee Torrent meet in the first Wisconsin Cup final at 2 p.m. The Navy (5-7-0 overall), who finished ninth in the UPSL Premier Midwest Conference West Division, beat the Wisconsin Conquerors 2-0 and won by forfeit over Bateaux FC in the North Group. The Torrent (14-5-2 overall) finished fourth in the NPSL Gateway Conference, and knocked off Honduras FC 3-1 and Isthmus City 6-2 to claim the South Group. The Torrent played in the USASA National Amateur Cup last weekend, falling in the final, and were declared the NISA Independent Cup Great Lakes Region champion after fellow finalist Inter Detroit withdrew from the competition. The Torrent also played the Conquerors twice in league play, winning 11-0 and 3-0.
WISCONSIN CUP
At Woodside Sports Complex, Wisconsin Dells
Final 8/3
Superior City FC vs. FC Milwaukee Torrent, 2 p.m.
Live stream on WSL Facebook page
The second- through fifth-place finishers in the Northern Wisconsin Soccer League will play for a trophy this weekend in the eighth Noel Messou Cup. Mach IV and Lakeshore United are the top two seeds for today’s semifinals. Mach IV faces a Neenah Boom side they defeated 2-1 back on June 2, before the teams played to a 3-3 tie on July 10. Lakeshore, meanwhile, knocked off DC Express 3-1 in a regular-season finale on July 21. Today’s winners meet Sunday in the final. The Boom are the only team in this year’s field to have previously won the Noel Messou Cup, having done so in 2018. List of Noel Messou Cup champions
NORTHERN WISCONSIN SOCCER LEAGUE
NOEL MESSOU CUP
Semifinals 8/3
No. 1 Mach IV (6-2-1) vs. No. 4 Neenah Boom (3-4-2), noon at Memorial Park, Neenah
No. 2 Lakeshore United (6-3-0) vs. No. 3 DC Express (4-4-1), 3 p.m. at Horace Mann Soccer Complex, Sheboygan
Final 8/4
Semifinal winners, time and location TBD
Standings
MIDWEST PREMIER LEAGUE
Heartland Conference
Division 1
W-L-T - Pts
RWB Adria Chicago 7-1-1 - 22
Bavarian United 6-2-2 - 20
Chicago House AC 6-2-1 - 19
DeKalb County United 3-5-2 - 11
Czarni Jaslo Chicago 2-7-1 - 7
🔽 Steel City FC 1-8-1 - 4
Last-place team relegated to Division 2 for 2025
8/3
RWB Adria vs. Chicago House
Division 2
Final
W-L-T - Pts
🏆 🔼 AFC Roscoe 9-1-2 - 29
🔼 Green Bay Glory 8-4-0 - 24
Rockford FC 7-4-1 - 22
Edgewater Castle 5-3-4 - 19
Chicago Ghost 3-6-3 - 12
Berber City 2-7-3 - 9
Strikers Fox Valley 1-10-1 - 4
Top two teams promoted to Division 1 for 2025
8/2
Edgewater Castle 3:3 Berber City
WISCONSIN SOCCER LEAGUES
MILWAUKEE PREMIER LEAGUE
Women's Division
W-L-T - Pts
Milwaukee Kickers 6-0-1 - 19
North Shore United U23 5-1-2 - 17
Isthmus City FC 3-4-1 - 10
Milwaukee City AFC 3-5-0 - 9
Croatian Eagles 0-7-0 - 0
Professional
Kate Del Fava (Kenosha St. Joseph) and the Utah Royals ended up as the unlucky winners in the inaugural NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. The Royals lost their first Group A match to Portland, but put up eight goals in winning their final two matches to finish atop the group over the Thorns on goal differential. However, only the top four group winners earned berths in Tuesday’s semifinals and the Utah side was the odd one out after group play concluded Friday. Gotham FC claimed the final semifinal berth by beating Guadalajara 3-0 to win Group D, eliminating the Royals. The 14 NWSL teams finished 20-11-11 in group play and won all five group titles, while the six Liga MX Femenil sides were 4-13-1.
NWSL x LIGA MX FEMENIL SUMMER CUP
Semifinals 8/6
At Kansas City
Gotham FC vs. Angel City FC, 4 p.m.
Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage, 8 p.m.
Final 10/25
At San Antonio
Semifinal winnersForward Madison hits the road to play rival Union Omaha tonight in a clash of two of the top teams in USL League One — both sides have 22 points, one behind the Greenville Triumph and the Charlotte Independence atop the standings. The Flamingos beat the Owls 2-0 in their first meeting this season June 20 at Breese Stevens Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
College
Thirteen state teams — nine women’s sides and four men’s teams — earned the College Team Academic Award from United Soccer Coaches, having recorded team grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Ripon, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside were among the 105 schools nationwide to have both their men’s and women’s teams claim the award. In all, 413 teams (241 women’s, 172 men’s) were recognized.
Women
Marquette, 3.52
UW-Eau Claire, 3.63
UW-La Crosse, 3.62
UW-Milwaukee, 3.67
UW-Oshkosh, 3.64
UW-Parkside, 3.55
UW-Whitewater, 3.58
Ripon, 3.27
St. Norbert, 3.49
Men
Ripon, 3.11
UW-Parkside, 3.34
UW-Milwaukee, 3.36
Wisconsin, 3.27
High school
Three Wisconsin girls teams were among 36 boys and girls teams nationwide to receive the United Soccer Coaches Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award for Spring 2024: Kenosha Tremper, Milton and Sugar River.
The award is based on a percentage calculating the total number of yellow and red cards received by players and coaches divided by the team’s games played. The Silver Award is for teams with a total of between 11 and 30 percent.