Titans Begin WIAC Championship Journey In La Crosse
UW-Oshkosh begins play in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Soccer Championship (Presented by Culver's) with a first round contest at UW-La Crosse on Tuesday (Nov. 5). Game time is set for 6 p.m. at UW-La Crosse's Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
UW-Oshkosh (8-9-1) is seeded fifth and UW-La Crosse (11-6-2) fourth for the six-team tournament. The Titans finished fifth in the WIAC's regular season standings with a 3-4 league record while the Eagles placed fourth with a 4-2-1 mark.
Tuesday's other first round contest features third-seeded UW-Eau Claire (14-5) hosting sixth-seeded UW-River Falls (9-9-1).
Top-seeded and regular season champion UW-Whitewater (12-5-3) and second-seeded UW-Stevens Point (11-4-2) begin WIAC Championship play in the semifinals on Thursday (Nov. 7). UW-Whitewater will host the lowest remaining seed while UW-Stevens Point will host the highest remaining seed.
The semifinal winners will then meet on Saturday (Nov. 9) at the site of highest remaining seed for the league's automatic berth into the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship.
At last year's WIAC Championship, top-seeded UW-La Crosse captured its second consecutive title with a 3-1 victory over third-seeded UW-Eau Claire. UW-La Crosse then advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division III Championship before losing a 3-0 decision to Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.). Sixth-seeded UW-Oshkosh was eliminated from the WIAC Championship with a 3-0 road loss to UW-Eau Claire in the opening round.
Tuesday's meeting will be the 33rd between UW-Oshkosh and UW-La Crosse. The Eagles have won the last four matchups to lead a series that began in 1993 by a 19-10-3 count. UW-La Crosse's latest victory over UW-Oshkosh was a 2-0 win on Oct. 5 in La Crosse.
UW-Oshkosh is the only program to have participated in each of the last 27 WIAC postseason tournaments. The Titans own a 14-24-3 WIAC Championship record and a pair of tournament titles (2011 & 2014).
UW-La Crosse is making its 26th appearance in the WIAC Championship. The Eagles, who also won the tournament in 1996, have compiled a 15-22-2 league postseason record.
UW-La Crosse has defeated UW-Oshkosh in four of its five WIAC Championship meetings. The Titans' lone victory was a 3-1 triumph during the semifinals of the 2011 event. The Eagles recorded wins over UW-Oshkosh in the 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2007 quarterfinals.
UW-Oshkosh has scored 28 goals this season, including nine during its last two contests, wins of 5-1 over North Central College (Ill.) on Oct. 30 and 4-0 over UW-Platteville on Nov. 2. The Titans' goal count ranks sixth in the WIAC this season.
Junior Mallory Knight leads the Titans in points with 20 and goals with nine. She scored three goals during UW-Oshkosh's win over UW-Platteville and in the process became the first Titan to record a hat trick since Caitlin Casey scored three goals against UW-Superior on October 10, 2009. Knight ranks second in the WIAC this season in match-winning goals (4), third in goals and fourth in points.
UW-Oshkosh has also received five goals from junior Addie Schmitz, three from freshman Rylie Kaufmann and two apiece from junior Delaney Karl and sophomore Mariah Matthews. Schmitz and senior Maddie Morris lead the Titans with four assists each. Schmitz ranks third in the league in match-winning goals (3), seventh in assists and ninth in shots (37).
In the goal, senior Madelyn Runyan possesses a 1.27 goals against average with two shutouts. She has saved 59 shots while posting a 4-8-1 record. Runyan fifth in the league in both goals against average and saves.
Sophomore Sophie Amundson leads UW-La Crosse with 10 goals and 25 points while ranking second on the team with five assists. Junior Kaitlyn Villars paces the Eagles with six match-winning goals while ranking second on the squad with nine goals and 21 points. Freshman Ainsley Allan leads UW-La Crosse in assists with six. The Eagles have totaled 33 goals on the year, the third-highest mark in the WIAC this season.
Amundson leads the WIAC in points while ranking second in the league in goals. Villars is the WIAC leader in shots (66) and match-winning goals.
UW-La Crosse sophomore goalkeeper Quinn Shannon owns a 9-5-2 record with eight shutouts. Her WIAC-leading 0.62 goals against average includes 58 saves.
UW-Stevens Point has won 15 of the league's 24 postseason titles. UW-Whitewater has claimed four championships, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse three apiece and UW-Oshkosh two.