Top of the box
In Sweden, Maggy Henschler (Milton/UW-Milwaukee) recently signed with Damallsvenskan club KIF Örebro DFF through the 2025 season. The 24-year-old center back had nine goals and three assists in 87 appearances (86 starts) in her college career, which concluded with two seasons at Kentucky playing for former UW-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside coach Troy Fabiano (Kenosha Bradford). Henschler, who also was an all-state hockey player in high school, spent time with NWSL club Racing Louisville during their preseason training camp earlier this year as a non-roster invitee. KIF Örebro (2W-10L-3D) sits 13th out of the 14 teams in the top-tier Damallsvenskan and resumes its season Aug. 24 after a six-week Olympics break.
High school
Chris Mitchell is Oregon through and through. He was an all-state player for the Panthers in 1992. He’s led the Oregon boys soccer team to three WIAA Division 2 state championships over the past six seasons. And now, he’ll take the helm of the similarly successful girls soccer program at his alma mater.
Mitchell recently was named Oregon girls coach, succeeding Bobby Nichols, who stepped down after leading the Panthers to their fourth WIAA Division 2 state title in June and relocated to Missouri. Nichols compiled a 76-4-4 record in his four seasons at Oregon, and extended the program’s run of state appearances to nine in a row.
Next spring, the Panthers will play in Division 1 for the first time since 2014, moving up a division because of the new WIAA Tournament Performance Factor. Oregon hasn’t lost a conference match since 2014, and has won or shared several iterations of Badger Conference titles in each of the past 12 years.
Mitchell, who’s also coached at The Blake School (Minn.) and Sun Prairie, has a 92-22-18 record with the Oregon boys and an overall record of 165-56-30 in 12 seasons as a head coach. He’s gearing up for the Fall 2024 boys season — practices start next Monday — and plans to coach both Panthers teams for the foreseeable future.
“With an impressive coaching resume and commitment to developing student-athletes both on and off the field, Coach Mitchell is well positioned to lead our program on a continued path of success,” Oregon athletic director Brittany Spencer Grant wrote in an email announcing Mitchell’s hiring as girls coach.
We’re tracking the coaching changes in varsity soccer programs across Wisconsin for the upcoming school year:
If you know of others that we’ve missed, drop us an email at wisconsinsoccercentral@gmail.com or connect with us on social media.
Professional
In Australia, Haley Johnson (Kenosha Tremper/UW-Milwaukee) played the full 90 as the visiting Preston Lions rallied past FC Bulleen Lions 2-1 on Monday night in Melbourne to pull within three points of their hosts atop the NPL Victoria Women's. It was a rematch of the Nike FC Cup final, which Bulleen won 3-2 eight days earlier. Preston and Essendon Royals have identical records (14W-5L-1D) and are tied on 43 points heading into their game Friday in the penultimate match of the regular season. FC Bulleen Lions (15-4-1) lead the way with 46 points. All three teams, plus Heidelberg United, have clinched the four playoff spots.
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 connect with us on socials.
College
Today’s exhibition schedule
Men
Marquette vs. Aquinas (Mich.), 3 p.m. at Valley Fields
UW vs. Drake, 5 p.m. at McClimon Complex
Linking play
Anson Dorrance retires as North Carolina women's soccer coach (ESPN)
While in France, Kevin Durant bought minority stake in soccer powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain (NBC Sports)
Lexington SC expected to announce move to USL Championship at news conference Tuesday (Walkin 90 on X / Twitter)
Mounting debt, legal issues threaten Future Legends’ future (BizWest)