WIAC Championships Website
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse soccer team advanced to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) with a 5-0 victory over UW-Stevens Point Thursday night in the tournament semifinals at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles, ranked 11th on this week's United Soccer Coaches Top-25 Poll, improve to 16-1-1 on the season and will host UW-Platteville in the championship game Saturday, November 4 at 1 p.m. UW-Stevens Point finishes its season at 8-11-1.
It is the Eagles second victory over the Pointers in the last five days after a 5-0 win in Stevens Point on October 28.
Ainsley Allan had the game-winning goal Thursday night.
UWL, making its 29th all-time appearance in the WIAC Championships, will seek its fifth (1996, 2017, 2018, 2022) tournament tile on Saturday. With Thursday's win, UWL has defeated UW-Stevens Point the last three years in the WIAC Tournament Semifinals. The Eagles earned a 3-0 victory in 2021 and 4-0 in 2022. UW-Stevens Point now leads UWL, 6-4-2, in the conference tournament.
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead Thursday on
Ainsley Allan's goal at 5:38 on assists from
Maggie Hernandez and
Lindsey Szymanski. UWL quickly made it 2-0 at 7:32 on
Ellie Arndt's unassisted goal.
Jillian Sawadski extended the lead to 3-0 at 36:06 on
Natalie Schisel's assist.
UWL led, 3-0, at halftime after recording 23 shots with 13 on goal. The Eagles had three corner kicks in the first 45:00. UW-Stevens Point totaled six shots in the opening half, including two on goal.
The Eagles added a pair of goals in the second half.
Chelsea Gale scored at 54:49 to make it 4-0 and
Natalie Schisel finished the scoring at 64:47 on assists from
Sera Speltz and Sawadski.
UWL finished with 40 shots in the game, including 19 on goal. Allan and Schisel each had seven shots with two on goal. Szymanski finished with six shots, four coming on goal. UWL had nine corner kicks in the game.
Sophia Anger and
McKenna Lloyd combined on the shutout with each recording two saves.
UW-Stevens Point registered eight shots with four on goal. Jessica Nigbur had 14 saves for the Pointers.
Natalie Schisel had a goal and assist.
UWL earned a 2-0 win over UW-Platteville on October 4 in La Crosse. The Pioneers advanced to Saturday's championship game with a 2-1 home victory over UW-Eau Claire on Thursday night.
The winner of Saturday's title game earns the conference's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships.
