The Kickoff: Saturday, July 27
Your roundup of soccer news across Wisconsin and beyond
Top of the box
The 32nd Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Masonic High School Senior All-Star games are today at Breese Stevens Field in Madison. The girls game kicks off at 11 a.m., with the boys game at 1 p.m. — check out the rosters, which include 14 players who were either first- or second-team WSCA all-state selections last season. Tickets for just the senior all-star games or a package including the two prep games and tonight’s Forward Madison FC USL League One match against Northern Colorado Hailstorm can be purchased here.
Amateur
FC Milwaukee Torrent, a club that was founded in 2015, will play for a national championship tonight against the New York Pancyprian-Freedoms in the USASA National Amateur Cup final in DeKalb, Ill. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The match will be streamed live; look for a link on the USASA YouTube channel.
UW-Parkside’s Jamie Le Comte, UW-Milwaukee’s Angel Gongora (Appleton West) and Gabe Voung (Sun Prairie) — who also played together at Madison College last fall — each have two goals to lead the Torrent’s attack during their Amateur Cup run. Coach Jeff Pill’s side has allowed just three goals in its four cup matches, two of those coming in Thursday’s 4-2 win over FC Arizona in the national semifinals, and has outscored opponents 12-3.
The Torrent are the fourth Wisconsin club to play in the National Amateur Cup final, joining Bavarian United (champions in 1976, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2018 and 2022, runners-up in 1983, 2016 and 2017), the Madison 56ers (champions in 1992) and Milwaukee Sport Club (runners-up in 1997).
The Pancyprian-Freedoms, who won the U.S. Open Cup three times (1980, ‘82 and ‘83) and advanced to the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals in 1984, have outscored foes by a 23-6 margin in their five Amateur Cup matches and haven’t allowed more than one goal in a game since their regional opener April 7. James Thristino has five goals to lead the way, while Joe Holland has four and Sebastian Ruiz, Matthew Forster, Luis Argudo and Junior Rosero each have three apiece.
USASA NATIONAL AMATEUR CUP
At Northern Illinois Soccer Complex, DeKalb, Ill.
Semifinals
New York Pancyprian-Freedoms 5:1 Tobacco Road FC (N.C.)
FC Arizona 2:4 FC Milwaukee Torrent
Final 7/27
New York Pancyprian-Freedoms vs. FC Milwaukee Torrent, 7 p.m.The Wisconsin Soccer Leagues Milwaukee Premier League 2023-2024 season comes to a conclusion today with the Major Division and First Division playoff finals at Hart Park in Wauwatosa. Admission is free. Bavarian United teams will be looking for titles in both matches, and had the upper hand over their finals foes during the regular season. The Bavarians handed the FC Wisconsin Brewers two of their three Majors losses with 2-0 results on both Sept. 24 and May 19, while their Reserves beat fellow First Division finalist MKE Crush 3-0 on June 22. The Bavarians won their 33rd Majors championship last season, extending their dominance in the league that started in 1927 — no other club has won more than six league titles. Wisconsin Major Division champions
WISCONSIN SOCCER LEAGUES
MILWAUKEE PREMIER LEAGUE
Playoffs
Finals 7/27
At Hart Park, Wauwatosa
Major Division
Bavarian United (9-3-1) vs. FC Wisconsin Brewers (9-3-1), 7 p.m.
First Division
Bavarian United Reserves (14-1-1) vs. MKE Crush (15-2-0), 3:30 p.m.The Green Bay Glory will need to defeat AFC Roscoe in the teams’ regular-season finale Sunday to win the Midwest Premier League Heartland Conference Division 2 title. That’s because the Glory (8-3-0) fell to host Rockford FC 3-2 on Friday night, leaving them two points behind Roscoe heading into Sunday’s title-decider at the Banta Bowl in Appleton. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Roscoe (8-1-2) can claim the championship with a win or a tie. Both teams have already clinched promotion to Division 1 for the 2025 season. Standings, schedule below
In the MWPL Heartland Division 1, RWB Adria (7-1-1) eliminated Bavarian United from title contention with a 5-0 win over Czarni Jaslo Chicago on Friday night. The Bavarians (6-2-1) are in second place, but the best they can do would be to tie RWB Adria on 22 points — the teams split their two games, but Adria would win the second tiebreaker, head-to-head goal differential between the teams, as they won 3-0 and lost 5-3 for a plus-1 differential. Chicago House AC (6-2-0) can capture the championship by beating the Bavarians on Sunday and RWB Adria on Aug. 3. If House ties the Bavarians and defeats RWB Adria, the title would be determined by tiebreakers. Standings, schedule below
UW-Green Bay midfielder Tommy Coughlin played the full 90 minutes and his Phoenix teammate Myles Sophanavong came off the bench in the second half to help host Peoria City get past the Flint City Bucks 1-0 in the USL League Two Central Conference final Friday night. Peoria City (10-1-4) will play host to FC Tucson (10-2-5) in a national semifinal Sunday — FC Tucson posted a 2-1 victory over Project 510 in the Western Conference final earlier Friday in Peoria.
Davidson’s Denis Krioutchenkov (Shorewood) played all 90 minutes and scored his fourth goal of the season, but Lionsbridge FC fell to the Seacoast United Phantoms 6-3 in the USL League Two Eastern Conference final Friday in Newport News, Va. The Lionsbridge coach is Chris Whalley, who was the UW-Milwaukee men's coach in 2010 and '11, and their roster included Italian defender Davide Materazzi, who plays at James Madison and is the son of World Cup winner Marco Materazzi. UW-Green Bay’s Chris Album has four goals in 11 appearances for the Phantoms (16-1-0) this year, but wasn’t in the game day roster Friday. Seacoast United plays Asheville City SC (13-0-2), a 1-0 winner over Corpus Christi FC in the Southern Conference final, in the other national semifinal.
Purdue striker Kayla Budish (Brookfield Central) was named to the WPSL All-National team for her performance in FC Pride’s national semifinal last week in Oklahoma. Budish also earned a spot on the WPSL Postseason All-Central Region team, as did Marquette defender Kate Gibson of Union KC.
Standings
MIDWEST PREMIER LEAGUE
Heartland Conference
Division 1
W-L-T - Pts
RWB Adria Chicago 7-1-1 - 22
Bavarian United 6-2-1 - 19
Chicago House AC 6-2-0 - 18
DeKalb County United 2-5-2 - 8
Czarni Jaslo Chicago 2-7-1 - 7
🔽 Steel City FC 1-7-1 - 4
Last-place team relegated to Division 2 for 2025
7/26
RWB Adria Chicago 5:0 Czarni Jaslo Chicago
7/27
DeKalb County United vs. Steel City
7/28
Bavarian United vs. Chicago House, 2 p.m. at Heartland Value Fund Stadium, Glendale
8/3
RWB Adria vs. Chicago House
Division 2
W-L-T - Pts
🔼 AFC Roscoe 8-1-2 - 26
🔼 Green Bay Glory 8-3-0 - 24
Rockford FC 7-4-1 - 22
Edgewater Castle 5-3-3 - 18
Chicago Ghost 3-5-3 - 12
Berber City 2-7-2 - 8
Strikers Fox Valley 0-10-1 - 1
Top two teams promoted to Division 1 for 2025
7/26
Rockford FC 3:2 Green Bay Glory
7/27
Strikers Fox Valley vs. Chicago Ghost
7/28
Green Bay Glory vs. AFC Roscoe, 3 p.m. at Banta Bowl, Appleton
8/2
Edgewater Castle vs. Berber City
Schedules
WISCONSIN PRIMARY AMATEUR SOCCER LEAGUE
Playoffs
Final 7/28
At Bollinger Field, UW-Eau Claire
NRFC Cyclones (10-1-0) vs. Lobos FC (9-1-1), 3:30 p.m.
NISA INDEPENDENT CUP
Great Lakes Region
Final
Inter Detroit vs. FC Milwaukee Torrent, details TBA
WISCONSIN CUP
At Woodside Sports Complex, Wisconsin Dells
Final 8/3
Superior City FC vs. FC Milwaukee Torrent, time TBA
Professional
Forward Madison FC will play their third home game in seven days tonight as the Northern Colorado Hailstorm visit Breese Stevens Field for a USL League One match. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. It will be a homecoming for Hailstorm striker Ethan Hoard (Racine Case/UW-Green Bay) — the 23-year-old has 8 goals and 5 assists in 18 appearances (13 starts) in all competitions in his first pro season. The Flamingos are tied on points with Union Omaha and the Greenville Triumph atop the standings with 11 of their 22 league matches remaining. FMFC is second in the league in goals scored (21) and tied for first in fewest goals allowed (nine).
Marisa Bova (Hartland Arrowhead) made it 2-for-2 in shootouts in her two-game pro career as the North Carolina Courage battled past host Racing Louisville 5-4 on penalties Friday night following a 1-1 draw in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. The 23-year-old Bova saved Jaelin Howell’s penalty in the fifth round to help the Courage take a second point on the night, six days after making two saves in a shootout victory over the Orlando Pride in her professional debut.
In Australia, Haley Johnson (Kenosha Tremper/UW-Milwaukee) scored her 17th goal of the season in the Preston Lions’ 7-1 rout of Alamein FC on Friday, moving into a tie for the league lead with fellow American Gabby Hollar of the Boroondara Eagles. Hollar, an Ohio native, played college soccer at Purdue.
In Iceland, goalkeeper Lili Berg (New Berlin/Waukesha Catholic Memorial) is no longer with Knattspyrnufélagið Fram in the Lengjudeild kvenna (second division), according to the club. Berg recorded two clean sheets and a 2.19 goals-against average in 16 appearances for the Reykjavík side in all competitions.