Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse soccer team clinched its fourth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season title with a 5-1 victory at UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium. The Eagles improve to 15-2-1 overall and 5-0-1 in the WIAC while the Titans drop to 5-6-5 overall and 1-4-1 in the conference.
It is UWL's eighth (1996, 2015, 2017-18, 2022-25) regular season conference championship in school history. UWL is the first team in league history to win four straight titles since UW-Whitewater in 2011-14. UW-Stevens Point won four consecutive crowns from 1992-95 and six straight from 1997-2002.
The eight regular season championships are second in WIAC history, trailing only UW-Stevens Point's 14 championships.Â
Aubree Caya tied the single-season school for goals.Â
Head coach
Jason Murphy has led UWL to seven WIAC titles and seven appearances in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament.
With the win, UWL clinches the top-seed for the WIAC Tournament and will host a semifinal on Friday, November 7. The winner of the league tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
UWL extended its WIAC unbeaten streak to 27 (25-0-2) with Saturday's win.
The Eagles scored three first half goals Saturday.
Ella Opie gave UWL a 1-0 lead at :36 with
Jillian Sawadski recording the assist. The Eagles extended the lead to 2-0 at 14:12 on
Catherine Arnold's goal and
Sera Speltz made it 3-0 at 19:04 with Sawadski recording her second assist. UWL had seven first half shots.
Opie gave the Eagles a 4-0 lead at 65:30 and
Aubree Caya finished the scoring at 74:30 on an
Amaya Thesing assist. Caya scored her 19
th goal of the season, tying the single-season school record set by Jennifer Tischaefer in 1997 and 1999.
UW-Oshkosh got on the scoreboard at 77:09 with Maris Heun's goal.
UWL finished with 17 shots, including 12 on goal. Caya recorded six shots with five on goal while Opie, Speltz and Arnold each had two shots with both coming on goal. The Eagles had seven corner kicks.
Summer Nicolai earned the win, recording two saves in 70:14.
Robin Blair had one save in 19:46.
UW-Oshkosh totaled 11 shots with four on goal. Greta Steines finished with three shots, one on goal, while Heun had two shots with both coming on goal. The Titans finished with three corner kicks.
Mallory Kerhin suffered the loss, registering seven saves.
UWL returns action Saturday, November 1 hosting UW-Whitewater at 5 p.m.
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