The Kickoff: Wednesday, Sept. 18
Your roundup of soccer news across Wisconsin and beyond
Top of the box
Junior goalkeeper Nason Lancina (Whitefish Bay) made 10 saves as the Lawrence men’s soccer team ended a 28-game winless streak on Saturday, holding off Lakeland 2-1 in a non-conference match in Appleton.
Lancina, who was named the Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week on Tuesday, made double-saves in both halves — the second set of those just after senior defender Zach Dale (Brookfield East) headed the Vikings (1-3-2) in front in the 58th minute.
After the Muskies (1-4-0) scored the opener in the 16th minute, junior midfielder Aidan Greer (Appleton North) pulled Lawrence level from the penalty spot with his first career goal a minute later. Later, Dale headed in Greer’s free kick to put the Vikings ahead and they held on to the slim lead despite playing down a man for the final 27 minutes after freshman Rei Ohtsuka picked up two yellow cards in 7 minutes.
Dale also scored in Lawrence’s most recent win, a 2-1 victory over Illinois College on Oct. 1, 2022 — the Vikings had been 0-16-12 since.
High school boys
After beating Brookfield East and Middleton in a four-day span last week, ending long unbeaten streaks for both sides, Milwaukee Marquette moved into the United Soccer Coaches Fall Boys National Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 16.
The Hilltoppers (4-0-2), who were among other teams receiving votes in the first two national polls of the fall, replaced Middleton at No. 16. The Cardinals received votes in the latest poll released Tuesday.
Marquette and Middleton also swapped spots in the Region VI poll, with the Hilltoppers moving up to second and the Cardinals falling to fifth. Brookfield East slipped from fourth to ninth, while Madison East is now 12th and Madison West is 13th — those teams traded positions from last week’s poll.
In a match-up between two of the aforementioned regionally ranked teams, senior Jacob Scully scored in the 61st minute and junior Jesus Armenta doubled the lead from the penalty spot 5 minutes later as Madison West (7-0-0, 4-0-0) handed host Madison East (7-1-0, 3-1-0) its first loss of the season, 2-0 on Tuesday night at Breese Stevens Field.
By the numbers: WisSports.net links
Longest active winning streaks
9: Sheboygan Christian-Lutheran
9: Wisconsin Dells
7: Amherst
7: Madison West
6: Hartland Arrowhead
Longest active unbeaten streaks
27: Hudson (22-0-5)
17: Milwaukee Marquette (13-0-4)
17: Oak Creek (15-0-2)
12: Shorewood (9-0-3)
9: Sheboygan Christian-Lutheran (9-0-0)
9: Wisconsin Dells (9-0-0)
Note: Games that go to penalty kicks are officially recorded as ties
College men
UW-Green Bay senior midfielder Kolton Prater (Hudson) was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Men’s Team of the Week.
Prater scored in the 82nd minute to lift the Phoenix to a 2-1 win over Bradley on Sept. 9, then had two assists in Saturday’s 5-1 Horizon League victory over Detroit Mercy.
After a 3-0 loss to Maryland on Friday, UW (6-1-0) sank nine places to No. 17 in this week’s United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I men’s national poll.
The Badgers dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 in the North Region poll, while UW-Green Bay (5-2-0) moved into rankings at No. 9. Meanwhile, Marquette (4-3-1) fell two spots to ninth in the East Region poll.
UW-Parkside (2-0-1) is ranked 22nd in the NCAA Division II men’s national poll and improved two spots to No. 5 in the Midwest Region poll.
UW-Eau Claire (5-0-1) jumped six places to No. 11 in the NCAA Division III men’s national poll. The Blugolds remain second in the Region IX poll, while UW-Platteville (4-0-1) held their spot at No. 5. In the Region VIII poll, Carthage (3-1-1) slipped one spot to fifth and Edgewood (4-2-1) moved up one place to No. 7.
Tuesday’s highlights
UW-Green Bay 2:1 UW-Parkside
Andrew Paolucci scored the 38th-minute equalizer and freshman Oscar Bjornskov’s first collegiate goal in the 63rd was the difference as the host Phoenix (6-2-0) rallied past the NCAA Division II Rangers at Aldo Santaga Stadium. Junior Paco Piscaglia opened the scoring in the 24th minute for Parkside, while former UWGB goalkeeper Daniyal Rana (Waukesha North) made three saves.Senior Lukas Schwenke (Milwaukee Thomas More) scored in the 19th minute and junior Asher Harris (Oconomowoc) made four saves in the clean sheet as visiting MSOE (1-1-4) claimed its first win of the season, blanking regionally ranked Carthage 1-0 in Kenosha.
Conference players of the week
Horizon League
Offensive: F Chris Album, jr., UW-Green Bay
Scored three goals as the Phoenix won both of their games to extend their winning streak to five in a row, one at Bradley on Sept. 9 and two against Detroit Mercy on Saturday to open Horizon League play.
WIAC
Offense: F Owen Zikowski, fr., UW-Stevens Point (Union Grove)
Recorded his first collegiate goal Sept. 10 against Hamline (Minn.), then added a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 7-0 victory over Northland.Defense: M Lucas Schoenenberg, sr., UW-Platteville (Elkhorn)
Played a key role as the Pioneers allowed just three shots on goal in a 1-1 tie against regionally ranked Luther (Iowa) on Wednesday, and then didn’t allow on shot on target in a 6-0 win over Marian on Saturday.
Midwest
Offensive: F Andre Robertson, jr., Ripon
Scored three goals in a pair of victories and leads the conference with six goals for the Red Hawks, who have won five games in a row for the first time since 2000.Defensive: GK Nason Lancina, jr., Lawrence (Whitefish Bay)
Details above
Standings
Big Ten Conference
W-L-T - Pts
Michigan 1-0-1 - 4
Maryland 1-0-0 - 3
Indiana 1-0-0 - 3
Michigan State 1-0-0 - 3
Wisconsin 1-1-0 - 3
UCLA 1-1-0 - 3
Washington 0-1-1 - 1
Ohio State 0-0-0 - 0
Northwestern 0-1-0 - 0
Rutgers 0-1-0 - 0
Penn State 0-1-0 - 0
Horizon League
W-L-T - Pts
UW-Green Bay 1-0-0 - 3
Wright State 1-0-0 - 3
Purdue-Fort Wayne 1-0-0 - 3
Oakland 1-0-0 - 3
Robert Morris 0-0-1 - 1
Northern Kentucky 0-0-1 - 1
Cleveland State 0-1-0 - 0
Detroit Mercy 0-1-0 - 0
IU Indy 0-1-0 - 0
UW-Milwaukee 0-1-0 - 0
This week’s NCAA Division I schedule
Friday's game
Villanova vs. Marquette, 3 p.m. (FloFC💲)
Saturday's games
Purdue-Fort Wayne vs. UW-Green Bay, noon
UW-Milwaukee vs. Wright State, 1 p.m.
No. 8 UW vs. Viterbo, 6 p.m. (B1G+💲)
Recruiting updates
College women
UW-La Crosse (6-0-0) slipped one spot to No. 8 in the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III women’s national Top 25 poll.
The Eagles remain atop the Region IX poll, while UW-Platteville (7-0-0) moved up three places to No. 5. Meanwhile in the Region VIII poll, Milwaukee School of Engineering (4-2-0) slipped one spot to fifth and Carthage (4-1-0) remains seventh.
UW fell one place to No. 8 in the NCAA Division I women’s North Region poll.
Tuesday’s highlights
Goals by seniors Megan Thompson and Anna Williams in a 6-minute span early in the second half gave Beloit the lead as the Buccaneers claimed a 2-2 draw against regionally ranked Dubuque in Iowa. Beloit (1-5-2) was outshot 30-8, including 11-0 in the first half, but senior goalkeeper Maya Betzler and the backline held on down the stretch despite allowing the Spartans (3-1-2) to pull level with goals in the 71st and 78th. Senior forward Emma Kober (Waukesha Catholic Memorial) scored the equalizer for Dubuque, her fifth goal of the season.
Conference players of the week
Horizon League
Offensive: F Senah Hanes, fr., UW-Green Bay (Kimberly)
Scored the Phoenix’s goal in their 1-1 draw at Drake last Thursday, giving her four goals in three games. Hanes is the first player in program history to earn back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Week honors.
WIAC
Offense: M-F Elise Pinewski, sr., UW-Eau Claire
Scored her first two goals of the season at the North Central (Ill.) Invitational, one in a 1-1 draw against Albion (Mich.) and the other in a 3-2 loss to the hosts.Defense: M Ellie Behnke, sr., UW-La Crosse (Appleton East)
Anchored a backline that allowed two goals on the week, and scored her second goal of the year in a 4-1 win over MSOE last Wednesday.
NACC
Offense: F-M Rylee Brotz, jr., Edgewood (Sheboygan South)
Scored her first two goals of the season and added five assists as the Eagles posted three wins on the week — including a goal and an assist in just 11 minutes of action in Sunday’s 9-0 victory over Mount Mary.Defense: GK Chelsea King, jr., Marian (Wisconsin Rapids)
Saved 26 of the 30 shots on goal she faced during the week, including a NACC-era, program-record 19 saves in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to No. 16 Loras (Iowa). This is King’s sixth career player of the week honor.
Upper Midwest
Offensive: M Megan Kohrt, sr., Northwestern, Minn. (Monona)
The captain scored equalizers in the 79th and 89th minutes in a hat trick — her first goals of the season — to lift the Eagles to a 3-3 draw against Bethel (Minn.).Defensive: GK Maria Vik, fr., Martin Luther, Minn. (Lakeside Lutheran)
Made 13 saves to record the clean sheet in a 1-0 victory over Minnesota-Morris.
Standings
Big Ten Conference
W-L-T - Pts
Minnesota 1-0-0 - 3
Iowa 1-0-0 - 3
Michigan State 1-0-0 - 3
Penn State 1-0-0 - 3
Ohio State 1-0-0 - 3
Rutgers 1-0-0 - 3
USC 1-0-0 - 3
UCLA 1-0-0 - 3
Purdue 1-0-0 - 3
Indiana 0-1-0 - 0
Wisconsin 0-1-0 - 0
Northwestern 0-1-0 - 0
Washington 0-1-0 - 0
Illinois 0-1-0 - 0
Oregon 0-1-0 - 0
Maryland 0-1-0 - 0
Nebraska 0-1-0 - 0
Michigan 0-1-0 - 0
This week’s NCAA Division I schedule
Thursday's games
Marquette vs. St. Thomas (Minn.), 5 p.m. (FloFC💲)
Wright State vs. UW-Green Bay, 6 p.m. (ESPN+💲)
Northern Kentucky vs. UW-Milwaukee, 6 p.m. (ESPN+💲)
UW vs. Illinois, 7 p.m. (B1G+💲)
Sunday's games
Butler vs. Marquette, noon (FloFC💲)
Northern Kentucky vs. UW-Green Bay, noon (ESPN+💲)
Wright State vs. UW-Milwaukee, noon
UW vs. Minnesota, 1 p.m. (B1G+💲)