The Kickoff: Saturday, Aug. 31
Your roundup of soccer news across Wisconsin and beyond
Top of the box
In Australia, Haley Johnson (Kenosha Tremper/UW-Milwaukee) scored the lone goal in first-half stoppage time and the Preston Lions held off the Essendon Royals 1-0 Friday night in Reservoir in an NPL Victoria Women's (second division) semifinal.
Second-seeded Preston will face fourth-seeded Heidelberg United in next Saturday’s grand final at The Home of the Matildas in Bundoora, after Heidelberg upset regular-season champion FC Bulleen Lions 4-2 in the other semifinal. This will be Preston’s second final of the year — they lost to Bulleen 3-2 in the Nike FC Cup final on Aug. 5.
In the 2nd minute of first-half stoppage time Friday, Preston’s Mebae Tanaka received a pass just over midfield on the right side and played a long ball over the backline for Johnson. She controlled it, worked her way past Royals defender Marie Rampal to the right side of the box and rolled a shot past goalkeeper Bethany Mason-Jones. It was Johnson’s 21st goal in 27 appearances (27 starts) in all competitions this season; she tied for second in the league with 18 goals in 22 games (22 starts).
Heidelberg beat Preston 3-2 in June and the teams played to a 2-2 draw in a regular-season finale last Saturday. The grand final kicks off at 12:30 a.m. CT next Saturday and will be streamed live on the NPL Victoria YouTube channel, with a pre-game show starting at 11:30 p.m. CT Friday.
College men
Friday’s highlights
Yale 0:1 Marquette
Senior Justin Milavanov scored from distance in the 21st minute and freshman goalkeeper Marten Brink made four saves in his second clean sheet in three appearances as the Golden Eagles (3-0-0) blanked the Bulldogs (0-1-0) in New Haven, Conn. Milavanov, a transfer from UMass-Lowell who also scored in Sunday’s win over Marist, won the ball back about 35 yards out, took one stride, saw Yale goalkeeper Chris Edwards off his line and fired a shot to the far post.Three state schools with new NCAA Division III men’s programs played their inaugural games:
Freshman Landon Christiansen (Somerset) had a hat trick in UW-River Falls’ first game, scoring in the 10th, 65th and 74th minutes to power the host Falcons past Crown (Minn.) 3-1.
Freshman Charlie McGinnis (Verona) scored the first goal in UW-Stevens Point history in the 10th minute and the host Pointers led twice, but St. Norbert answered each time and the teams played to a 2-2 tie.
Freshman goalkeeper Maxwell Kutz made nine saves — eight in the second half — to keep it close as UW-Stout dropped its opener 2-0 to Hamline (Minn.) in Menomonie. The Pipers outshot the Blue Devils 21-2 on the night.
Junior Carson Kowalski, a transfer from Dubuque (Iowa), scored in the 7th minute and seniors Mark Belknap and Spencer Banks combined on the shutout as No. 16 UW-Eau Claire topped visiting Edgewood 1-0 in a season opener.
Senior Alex Wano scored his second career goal — and first since his freshman year — and junior keeper Seth Aiken (Mount Horeb) didn’t need to make a save in the clean sheet as host UW-Platteville beat MSOE 1-0. The win snapped the Pioneers’ eight-game winless streak (0-6-2) against the Raiders dating to 2010.
This week’s NCAA Division I schedule
Sunday's game
Northern Illinois vs. UW-Green Bay, 1 p.m. (NIU All-Access)
Monday's games
UW-Milwaukee vs. St. Thomas (Minn.), 5 p.m.
UW vs. Marquette, 7 p.m. (B1G+ 💲)
Recruiting updates
College women
Friday’s highlights
Sophomore striker Jillian Sawadski scored twice and senior midfielder Ellie Arndt (Appleton Xavier) had a goal and an assist as No. 7 UW-La Crosse raced past UW-Superior 5-0 in a season opener in Duluth, Minn. The Eagles outshot the Yellowjackets 29-8, including 17-3 on goal.
The senior trio of Grace Tumilty and Norwegians Mari Sagstad and Jo Ueland combined for all four goals and assists as Carroll dominated LeTourneau (Texas) 4-0 at the Bob Baptista Invitational in Wheaton, Ill., in its debut under coach Chris Tadley, who was a volunteer assistant in the UW men’s program the past two seasons.
Sunday's NCAA Division I games
UW-Green Bay vs. South Dakota State, noon (ESPN+ 💲)
UW vs. Western Michigan, 1 p.m. (B1G+ 💲)
Challenge Cup — Marquette vs. Minnesota, 1 p.m. (FloFC 💲)
Challenge Cup — UW-Milwaukee vs. Illinois-Chicago, 6 p.m.
Recruiting updates
High school boys
Friday’s highlights
Sam Johnson, Dillon Pliszka and Jonah Caldera scored and fellow senior Sorin Adler had two assists as host Madison Edgewood beat Edgerton 3-1 in a season opener Friday, ending the Crimson Tide’s 20-game unbeaten streak (16-0-4).
Defending Division 1 state champion Middleton opened its season with an 8-0 victory over host Lake Geneva Badger and are now unbeaten in their past 15 games (12-0-3). Brookfield East, Hudson and Milwaukee Marquette also posted victories Friday to extend their unbeaten streaks. (See list below)
Madison Soccer Showcase
Madison teams went 3-0-1 on the first day of the inaugural event hosted by Madison College at its Goodman Athletic Complex, with all three victories by one goal.
Friday’s results
Madison West 2:1 Oregon
Madison East 3:2 Pewaukee
Madison Memorial 2:1 De Pere
Madison La Follette 0:0 Lodi
Today’s games
Madison La Follette vs. Pewaukee, 9 a.m.
Madison West vs. De Pere, 11 a.m.
Madison Memorial vs. Lodi, 1 p.m.
Madison East vs. Oregon, 3 p.m.
Follow: Website ⚽ Live streams (💲) ⚽ Instagram ⚽ X / Twitter
By the numbers: WisSports.net links
Longest active unbeaten streaks
34: Brookfield East (29-0-5)
21: Hudson (18-0-3)
15: Middleton (12-0-3)
11: Milwaukee Marquette (9-0-2)
Longest active winning streak: 9, Union Grove
Note: Games that go to penalty kicks are officially recorded as ties
Professional
In Iceland, club captain Aron Eli Sævarsson (UW) scored his first goal of the season as UMF Afturelding scored all of its goals in the opening 36 minutes in a 4-1 victory over Njarðvík in a Lengjudeild karla (second division) match Friday. Afturelding is unbeaten in six (5-0-1) and is now fourth in the 12-team standings, just two points behind leader ÍBV with two matches remaining. The top six teams are all within four points of one another in the tightly contested league.
The Charleston Battery announced an agreement to transfer forward Nick Markanich to CD Castellón of Spain’s Segunda División (LaLiga 2) following the conclusion of the 2024 USL Championship season. The 24-year-old Markanich, who played for the Green Bay Voyageurs in USL League Two and made several appearances in friendlies for Forward Madison FC, has scored 24 goals for the Battery this season — one short of the league record with eight games left.
Follow all the players with state ties playing professionally in the U.S. and around the world on our Wisconsin Players in the Pros chart. If we've missed anyone, email us at wisconsinsoccercentral@gmail.com or let us know on social media.
Amateur
The WSL Milwaukee Premier League opened a free agent portal for players who live in the greater Milwaukee area and are looking to join a team in their men’s Major Division or First Division or their women’s league. Players must be at least 18 years old. Registered MPL teams will be able to contact interested players.
Linking play
15-year-old Gilberto Mora becomes the youngest player to score a goal in Liga MX (Cantina MX podcast on X / Twitter)