Warhawks Deny Titans Another WIAC Soccer Championship Title
UW-Oshkosh's bid to repeat as winner of the WIAC Women's Soccer Championship came up short as UW-Whitewater edged the Titans, 1-0, in this year's title match held Saturday (Nov. 7) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
UW-Whitewater, which lost 1-0 to UW-Oshkosh in last year's tournament final, picked up its third WIAC Championship title with the victory. The Warhawks (17-4) also earned the league's automatic berth into the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship that begins on Nov. 14.
UW-Oshkosh (14-4-2), which shared the WIAC's regular season title with UW-La Crosse, will now wait to see if it receives one of 20 at-large bids into the Division III Championship. The NCAA tournament field will be revealed during an online selection show at 12 p.m. (CST) on Monday (Nov. 9) at ncaa.com.
After a scoreless first half, UW-Whitewater's Jenna Woodson scored five minutes, 11 seconds (50:11) into the second period for the game's lone goal. Woodson tallied her second goal of the season on a 12-yard kick that followed a cross from Brianna Reid.
UW-Whitewater, which improved to 52-9-4 in its last 65 matches, compiled a 17-9 advantage in shots and held off a pair of UW-Oshkosh corner kick opportunities in the final 22 minutes of play to secure its 10th shutout of the season.
The Warhawks attempted 11 shots in the first half, including six that were saved by UW-Oshkosh goalkeeper Nina Muzi. UW-Whitewater also had three shots stopped by Muzi in the second period.
Reid, Woodson and Jordan Jackson led the Warhawks with three shots apiece, while Morgan Beaty and Carly Pottle tallied two apiece. Jackson had a chance to give UW-Whitewater a 1-0 lead, but her shot in the 42nd minute (41:11) hit the post.
UW-Oshkosh, which defeated UW-Whitewater by a 2-1 score on Oct. 28, was held to nine shots. The Titans had three shots saved by UW-Whitewater goalkeeper Erin Doody in the first half and one in the second. The Warhawks also recorded a first-half team save.
Rachel Elliott paced the Titans with two shots, while Robyn Elliott, Rylee Engelland, Alek Kleis and Kaitlyn Schauer each marked one shot on goal.
Both teams finished the contest with five corner kicks, including three that were earned by UW-Oshkosh in the game's first 17 minutes.
UW-Whitewater advanced to the title match with wins over UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse. UW-Oshkosh received a bye and qualified for the championship contest with Thursday's (Nov. 5) 1-0 victory over UW-Eau Claire.
Saturday's loss was just UW-Oshkosh's second in its last 16 matches (12-2-2 record). The Titans are now 14-13-3 in their 30 meetings with UW-Whitewater.