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WIAA Boys Soccer State Championship Preview

10/29/2018, 12:15pm CDT
By WIAA

THE TOURNAMENT:  The 37th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Soccer State Tournament will take place Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 1-3 at KOHLER Engines Stadium at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee, Wis. Ticket prices for the tournament are $8. 

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION:  The single-elimination tournament features four divisions. Four teams will compete for the State title in each of the divisions. The coaches of the qualifying teams in Divisions 1 and 2 seeded those two divisions, and the coaches of the qualifying teams in Divisions 3 and 4 seeded those two brackets. Below are the pairings and time schedule of games. 

Division 3
Thursday, Nov. 1
#1 McFarland (18-4) vs. #4 Plymouth (14-4-5) - 11 a.m.
#2 Pius XI Catholic (20-3-2) vs. #3 Baldwin-Woodville (20-0-2) - 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 3
Championship Game - 11 a.m.

Division 2
Thursday, Nov. 1 
#1 Cedarburg (15-2-2) vs. #4 New Berlin Eisenhower (16-3-1) - 4:30 p.m.
#2 Oregon (18-2-2) vs. #3 Holmen (22-1-1) - 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 3
Championship Game - 1:30 p.m.

Division 1
Friday, Nov. 2 
#1 Marquette (18-1-2) vs. #4 Sun Prairie (14-5-3) - 11 a.m.
#2 Hamilton (15-1-3) vs. #3 Green Bay Preble (17-1-6) - 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 3
Championship Game - 4:30 p.m.

Division 4
Friday, Nov. 2 
#1 University School (16-2-1) vs. #4 Sturgeon Bay (16-7-1)- 4:30 p.m.
#2 Amery (17-0-4) vs. #3 Kettle Moraine Lutheran (16-5-3) - 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 3
Championship Game - 7 p.m.
  
PRE-FINALS LIVE ON THE WEB:  The semifinals of all four divisions of the WIAA Boys Soccer State Tournament will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for $9.95 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the "Subscribe" image. Archived streams of the games will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament without requirement of a subscription. 

FINALS ON FS WISCONSIN NETWORKS:  Watch the broadcast of the WIAA Boys Soccer State finals Saturday on FS Wisconsin. The Divisions 3 and 2 games will be aired at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively, and the Divisions 1 and 4 games will be carried live at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. Check local cable listings for the channels in your area. The finals will be streamed live on FoxSportsGo.com with authentication or by downloading the Fox Sports App.

LAST YEAR:  Marquette captured the crown in Division 1 for the fourth straight season with a 2-1 victory over Arrowhead in the final. In Division 2, Whitefish Bay captured the crown for the third year in a row by rolling to a 6-1 win over Oregon. In Division 3, Mount Horeb reversed their fortunes to notch a 2-1 win over Delavan-Darien, who defeated the Vikings by the same score in the title game in 2016. The Prairie School blanked Sturgeon Bay 1-0 to earn the Division 4 championship.

THE DIVISION 1 FIELD:  Four-time defending champion Marquette is the top seed. The Hilltoppers advance to the State tournament in pursuit of their fifth consecutive championship. They have now qualified for a State membership-leading 18 times, all coming in the last 19 years. Their championship total of 13, all coming in the the last 18 years, is also a membership record for championships won. In addition to their current streak of four titles, the Hilltoppers won four consecutive crowns from 2000-03 and added titles in 2005, 2008, 2010-12 and 2014-16. In addition, they finished runner-up in 2004 and 2007. Prior to joining the WIAA, The Hilltoppers won 14 titles as a former member of WISAA. Those came in 1974, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984-86, 1989-90, 1992, 1994-97. They qualify this year by cruising past Franklin 6-0 in the Kenosha Tremper Sectional final. The Hilltoppers are the champions of the Greater Metro Conference this season. This will be the first State tournament experience for second-seeded Hamilton. The Chargers are the representative from the West Allis Hale Sectional following a 2-1 win over Oshkosh West in the final. They placed runner-up to Marquette in the Greater Metro Conference this fall. Third-seeded Green Bay Preble returns to the State tournament for the second time in the last three seasons and its 10th time overall. The Hornets have finished runner-up in their two most recent appearances, in 2013 and 2016. They survived a 2-2 tie with Hudson and advanced on the 5-4 advantage in the shootout in the final of the D.C. Everest Sectional. The Hornets are the champions of the Fox River Classic Conference this fall. Sun Prairie makes its first-ever State appearance as the fourth seed following a 4-3 edge in a shootout after a 3-3 tie with Kettle Moraine in the sectional final hosted by the Cardinals.  They finished fourth in the Big Eight Conference this season.
 
DIVISION 2 FIELD:  Cedarburg was issued the #1 seed. The Bulldogs are  embarking on their 12th State tournament appearance and the first since 2015. They have won three Division 1 championships, those coming in 1989, 1991 and 1996. In addition to the titles, they have six runner-up finishes. Those  came in 1992, 1994, 1995, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The Bulldogs’ advance to State comes via a 4-3 shootout advantage following a 2-2 tie with three-time former defending champion Whitefish Bay in the sectional final hosted at Whitefish Bay. They placed in a first-place tie with Nicolet in the North Shore Conference this fall. Last year’s runner-up and second-seeded Oregon returns to State for the second year in a row and for the ninth time overall. The Panthers’ appearance in 2013 produced a championship as did their experience in 1998. They tied Elkhorn 1-1 in the final of the sectional held at Elkhorn and moved on to the State semifinal with a 5-4 edge in the shootout. The Panthers were the champions in the South Division of the Badger Conference this season. Holmen is seeded third in the bracket as the Vikings make their initial appearance in the State tournament after blanking Green Bay Southwest 1-0 in the Tomah Sectional final. They are the champions of the Mississippi Valley Conference this season. New Berlin Eisenhower, the fourth seed, will appear in its second State tournament and its first since 1997 when the Lions finished runner-up. They advance to the State semifinals this year with a 2-1 overtime victory over Wauwatosa West in the sectional final hosted by Waukesha North. The Lions finished fourth in the Woodland Conference standings this season. 

THE DIVISION 3 FIELD:  McFarland was awarded the top seed in the bracket. The Spartans have qualified for the State tournament just one other time. That came in 2013, which resulted with a loss in the semifinals. They  finished atop the standings in the Rock Valley Conference this fall, and their return to the tournament field comes following a 3-1 victory over Edgewood in the Mount Horeb Sectional final.   Second-seeded Pius XI Catholic returns to the State tournament for the first time since its only other appearance in 2000. The Popes fell in the Division 1 quarterfinals that season. They are the champions of the Shorewood Sectional following a 3-3 tie versus New Berlin West, advancing with a 3-2 advantage in the shootout. The Popes finished runner-up to Pewaukee in the Woodland Conference during the regular season. Third-seeded Baldwin-Woodville is celebrating its first trip to the State tournament following its 4-2 win over Mosinee in the Rice Lake Sectional final. The Blackhawks finished first in the Middle Border Conference this season. Plymouth, the fourth seed, is making its second straight appearance at State and its fifth overall. The Panthers’ first State experience had been in Division 1. The next two appearances were in Division 2, which included a State championship in 2002. They qualify this year after shutting out Fox Valley Lutheran 3-0 in the sectional final hosted by the Panthers. They were the runners-up  to Division 4 State qualifier Kettle Moraine Lutheran in the East Central Conference this season. 

THE DIVISION 4 FIELD:   University School of Milwaukee was granted the top seed in the bracket. The Wildcats are making their fourth State tournament appearance and the first since 2015. They finished runner-up that season. Prior to that, they won the State title in their 2013 appearance. The Wildcats advance to the State semifinals this year with a 3-0 shut out over Racine St. Catherine’s in The Prairie School Sectional final. They finished first in the Midwest Classic Conference this fall. Second-seeded Amery moves down into the division this season after qualifying for the first time last season in Division 3, which resulted in a loss in the semfinals. The Warriors return to the State tournament comes by virtue of their convincing 8-0 triumph over Arcadia in the Cumberland Sectional final. They are the runners-up in the Middle Border Conference behind Division 3 qualifier Baldwin-Woodville during the regular season. Kettle Moraine Lutheran will be experiencing the State tournament for the first time in the program’s history as the #3 seed. The Spartans notched a 3-2 victory over  Luther Prep in the sectional final hosted at Lomira to advance to the State semifinals. They are the champions of the East Central Conference this season. Last year’s runner-up and fourth seed Sturgeon Bay qualifies for the seventh time overall and for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Clippers won the program’s only championship in their State appearance in 2015. This season, they advance to the semifinals with a 2-1 advantage over Howards Grove in the final of the Kohler Sectional. They are the champions of the Packerland Conference this year. 

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