Titans Fall To Warhawks In Final Of WIAC Championship

UW-Whitewater scored in the first minute of play and then relied on its defense en route to a 1-0 victory over UW-Oshkosh in the title match of the WIAC Women's Soccer Championship held Saturday (Nov. 9) in Whitewater.

The victory gave UW-Whitewater (16-0-4) the WIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship for the second straight season. The Warhawks are expected to be the lone WIAC team to receive an invitation when selections to the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship are announced on Monday (Nov. 11).

UW-Whitewater wasted little time in setting the tempo as Brianna Reid scored off a pass from Carly Pottle just 54 seconds into the match. The goal was Reid's team-leading 12th of the season.

UW-Whitewater threatened two more times late in the first half, but UW-Oshkosh goalkeeper Katie Berkopec answered the challenge with two excellent saves. Berkopec stopped two more shots in the second period to finish the contest with four saves.

Defensively, UW-Whitewater held UW-Oshkosh (11-8-2) to just four shots and without a corner kick opportunity. Amanda Baalke attempted two shots for the Titans, while Anna Beckerleg and Christina Mauthe launched one each.

UW-Whitewater, which posted a 3-2 win over UW-Oshkosh on Sept. 25, finished the contest with 13 shots and five corner kicks. The Warhawks were led by the six shots from Sarah Sedlar and the two from Reid.

Jordan Myers guarded the UW-Whitewater goal and saved two shots, both in the second half.

UW-Oshkosh was appearing in the final of the WIAC Championship for the fifth time. The Titans made previous visits in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2011.