The Kickoff: Thursday, July 25
Your roundup of soccer news across Wisconsin and beyond
Top of the box
FC Milwaukee Torrent makes the short trip south to DeKalb, Ill., for the USASA National Amateur Cup, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The Torrent (12W-4L-2D in all competitions this year) faces fellow National Premier Soccer League side FC Arizona in tonight’s second semifinal, scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. at the Northern Illinois Soccer Complex. Watch for a link to the live stream when it is available, and read more about the tournament below.
Amateur
The Torrent’s travel roster for the National Amateur Cup: Joey Arrigoni, Owen Gendrich, Angel Gongora, Brandon Kaup, Ethan Kratzer, Jamie Le Comte, Juan Lopez, Max Ludwig, Alejandro Martinez, Davis Nelson, Lucas Nesthus, Sam Ortner (GK), Taylor Pill, Paco Piscaglia, Javier Steinwascher, Gabe Voung.
The Torrent entered the Region II tournament in the quarterfinals and beat Chicago House AC 6-1, then blanked host Vlora FC (Minn.) 1-0 and outlasted Bavarian United 1-0 after extra time in the regional final.
Region III champion Tobacco Road FC, which lost to eventual champion SC MesoAmerica 2-1 in last year’s Amateur Cup semifinals, won all three of its group games at the regional tournament — two of them by one goal — then cruised past Naples United FC (Fla.) 5-1 in the final to earn a repeat trip to the semifinals.
Region I champion New York Pancyprian-Freedoms, which won the U.S. Open Cup three times (1980, ‘82 and ‘83) and advanced to the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals in 1984, needed penalty kicks to advance past Hoboken FC 1912 (N.J.) in the first round of the regional tournament after a 3-3 draw. They then powered past Newtown Pride (Conn.) 6-1 and the Providence City FC Rogues (R.I.) 7-1 before shutting out Christos FC (Md.) 2-0 in the regional final.
Region IV champion FC Arizona defeated Temecula FC (Calif.) 2-1 and surged past Azteca FC (Colo.) 4-2 after extra time in the regional final. In league play, FC Arizona finished second in the NPSL Southwest Conference and lost to California’s El Farolito 4-1 in the West Region final last Saturday.
Three Wisconsin clubs have played in National Amateur Cup finals: 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 Bavarians’ six National Amateur Cup titles are second to only the seven won by St. Louis Kutis.
USASA NATIONAL AMATEUR CUP
At Northern Illinois Soccer Complex, DeKalb, Ill.
Semifinals 7/25
New York Pancyprian-Freedoms (N.Y.) vs. Tobacco Road FC (N.C.), 5:30 p.m.
FC Arizona vs. FC Milwaukee Torrent, 8 p.m.
Final 7/27
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.
Schedules
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 (14-1-1) vs. MKE Crush (15-2-0), 3:30 p.m.
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
Youth clubs
The FC Wisconsin 10G ECNL team will face Fury FC 10G Black (Calif.) in the U.S. Club Soccer National Cup XXIII Girls U14 Super Division final this morning in Commerce City, Colo. Kickoff is at 9:30 a.m. FC Wisconsin, which earned its spot in the National Cup by winning the Midwest Regional in June in Illinois, went 2-0-1 in Group A and advanced to the final on the fourth tiebreaker. Mercury Red (Ohio) also went 2-0-1 in the group, the teams tied 2-2 in their matchup Monday and both teams had a +6 goal differential and eight goals scored, but FC Wisconsin allowed only two goals while Mercury gave up three.
Three Wisconsin girls teams are 1-1-0 through two rounds of group play at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Reunion, Fla., with the final group matches today. The group winners advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
14U Girls
North Shore United 10G Blue
7/23: PPA 2010 Green (Md.) - 3-0 W
7/24: KC Legends 2010 Academy Red (Kan.) - 3-2 L
7/25: Solar South 10G FDL Adames (Texas), 7 a.m.
Elmbrook United 10G Elite 64
7/23: Utah Soccer Alliance 10G Elite 64 - 3-2 L
7/24: BVB International Academy Pittsburgh 10G Premier - 2-0 W
7/25: Nationals Union 10 Black (Mich.), 7 a.m.
15U Girls
Elmbrook United 09G Elite 64
7/23: Missouri Rush 2009G Goddard - 2-1 L
7/24: Kononia Lady Fire 2009/10 (Tenn.) - 2-2 D
7/25: Cook Inlet SC 09 Elite (Alaska), 8:30 a.m.
17U Girls
Madison 56ers 07G Elite 64
7/23: EDA (Calif.), 12:30 p.m. - 2-0 W
7/24: Aztec 2007 NAL (Mass.) - 5-0 L
7/25: Utah Surf 07 Hale, 12:30 p.m.
Schedules, results and standings
Streaming links (no charge; all games either live or recorded)
Professional
Christian Chaney scored against his hometown team, and Devin Boyce snapped a tie in the 66th minute as Forward Madison FC pulled level on points with Union Omaha and the Greenville Triumph atop the USL League One standings with a 2-1 victory over the Central Valley Fuego in a rescheduled match Wednesday night. A crowd of 3,573 at Breese Stevens Field saw the last-place Fuego finish the game with nine men as Razak Cromwell (78th minute) and Clayton Torr (90th+3) were each sent off for their second yellow cards of the night.
High school
We’re tracking the coaching changes in varsity soccer programs across Wisconsin for the upcoming school year.
Fall 2024 Prep Boys Coaching Changes
Spring 2025 Prep Girls Coaching Changes
If you know of others that we’ve missed, drop us an email at wisconsinsoccercentral@gmail.com or connect with us on socials
Linking play
Canada sends two Olympic staff members home for spying on New Zealand’s soccer practice with drone (The Athletic)
2024 Olympics women's soccer: Expert picks, predictions, who will earn gold, how will USWNT do? (CBS Sports)
🎞️ Watch: Dare to Dream (Max Ornstil on YouTube)
Ukrainian combines managing Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih with helping his country in the war against Russia (The Guardian)
Was Torr's 2nd yellow for dissent or was he involved in the play?