I just wanted to get the conference on the board to prompt a discussion. This lag between winter sports and fall sports is a killer.
Eau Claire fairly dominated the conference last season; any guesses as to how they'll do this year? I'll be watching Stout, of course, and I haven't paid much attention to other teams.
Stout had a dynamite goalie last season and, supposedly, strong back up. They didn't get all that much time on the field. The team was big enough to split to form a secondary squad; plenty of players to fill the holes left by graduating seniors. Whether or not they can do the job is still up in the air. However, having a season of some experience is better than coming in cold and trying to fill spots.
Any other clues as to how the conference teams will look this season? Anyone out there or is everyone glued to World Cup TV? (I sincerely hope the women are watching)
Hey this is pretty cool! I thought soccer shouldva gotten their own board.
Hey, watch out for Oshkosh, especially Michelle John. She's been one of the best players in this conference the past couple of years (back to back years all-midwest region) and being a Senior with the freshman talent they had last year, don't be surprised if the Titans finally win the crown.
Overall though, this might be the most competitive conference in the WIAC when fall comes around.
Quote from: Mr. Downtown on June 26, 2006, 06:37:02 PM
Overall though, this might be the most competitive conference in the WIAC when fall comes around.
Let's not get carried away shall we. Let's remember that just three years ago the soccer coaches voted to cut the WIAC Tournament from eight teams to six teams because they decided the 7th and 8th seeds had no realistic chance to win a game. Just a couple years ago Stevens Point was the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in this league, setting an NCAA record for consecutive conference wins.
Certainly the women's soccer league has balanced out some, but there's still some very poor teams that have no chance of contending. If you're going to compare the competitiveness of women's soccer with that of men's basketball, women's basketball and football, I think women's soccer still comes in a distant fourth.
Just the fact that Stevens Point is no longer the presumptive champion of the conference is a sign: the conference is improving and improving fairly rapidly. I don't think it will contend with the popularity of basketball yet--and fortunately, it doesn't have to. Having non-competitive teams in a conference doesn't automatically damn the conference, after all.
Perhaps part of the charm of WIAC is that it can be competitive on several fields or courts. I watch the little scrolling news bar on the ESPN stations and see WIAC schools took DIII titles in volleyball, indoor and outdoor track (men and women) and had very respectable runs in soccer, football and basketball.
Now we need to field teams in lacrosse (game, not city or school), water polo and field hockey.
Quote from: Just Bill on June 26, 2006, 10:44:50 PM
Certainly the women's soccer league has balanced out some, but there's still some very poor teams that have no chance of contending.
You'll get that in nearly every league in every sport. As much as I loved Point beating up on everyone every year (because I'm a Pointer), it is nice to see the league balance out and have other teams have something to play for.
I remember when Wisconsin Rapids didn't even have a hockey team and now they are almost as good as SPASH! :D Back in the haydays of Pointer hockey, we were beating newly formed St. Norberts 21-1. Now, they ARE better than us!
Parity makes everything interesting and fun to watch. I play in a coed soccer league and I'd rather lose 5-4 than win 10-0, it's a lot more fun and competitive for BOTH teams.
Of course, there aren't any national championships at stake!
Any word on how well UW-Platteville is expected to do this season? They're scheduled to play WLC in Milwaukee 9/06/06 in a non-conference tilt.
WLCALUM83
UW-Platt is one of the more physical teams around. Depends on whether WI Luth can handle getting the legs cut and getting elbows to the head.
That'll be an experience for WLC. From what I've read so far, the Warrior women are in a rebuilding year and aren't expected to do that good, anyway.
Fox Sports North and While We Were Young Productions will be broadcasting 4 WIAC games this year. Here is the tentative schedule:
Women's Soccer
UW-Stevens Point at UW-Oshkosh Sept. 20, (Broadcast on Oct. 8--Noon)
UW-River Falls at UW-Stout Oct. 4, (Broadcast on Oct. 8--2 p.m.)
UW-Oshkosh at UW-Whitewater Oct. 18, (Broadcast on Oct. 22--Noon)
Tournament Championship Nov. 4, (Broadcast on Nov. 12--Noon)
Final: UW-Platteville 2, Wisconsin Lutheran 0.
Final: UW Platteville 9, MSOE 0. (Platteville sweeps in their Milwaukee double-dip).
WLC should be happy with that result.
The first NCAA regional rankings are out and posted in the Central Region Rankings area. This poll is the only one to use when wondering about Pool B and Pool C candidates.
Props to the UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point players that made d3kicks.com's "Women's Team of the Week" 8) ;) :)
New NCAA Central Regional rankings posted
2006 WIAC Women's Soccer Tournament
WIAC Tournament Quarterfinals
10/31/06 UW-Platteville (#8) @ UW-Eau Claire (#1) 2:00 PM
10/31/06 UW-La Crosse (#5) @ UW-River Falls (#4) 2:00 PM
10/31/06 UW-Whitewater (#6) @ UW-Stevens Point (#3) 2:00 PM
10/31/06 UW-Stout (#7) @ UW-Oshkosh (#2) 4:00 PM
WIAC Tournament Semifinals (Hosted by Highest Remaining Seed)
11/3/06 Lowest Remaining Seed @ Highest Remaining Seed 11:00 AM
11/3/06 #3 Remaining Seed vs #2 Remaining Seed 2:00 PM
WIAC Tournament Finals
11/4/06 Semifinal Winners 1:00 PM
#1 UW-Eau Claire over #8 UW-Platteville 3-0
#4 UW-River Falls over #5 UW-La Crosse 1-0
#3 UW-Stevens Point over #6 UW-Whitewater 5-0
#2 UW-Oshkosh over #7 UW-Stout 6-1
__________
Friday's Semi-finals:
UW-River Falls at UW-Eau Claire
UW-Stevens Point at UW-Oshkosh
That should read:
UW-Stevens Point vs. UW-Oshkosh (the game will be in Eau Claire).
Nice call!
Eau Claire has set up a web site for the tournament. It appears they will be doing Live Stats for all games:
http://www.uwec.edu/athletics/soc/0607/wiac/index.htm
NCAA Rankings are up.
Friday's WIAC Semifinals:
Eau Claire 2, River Falls 0
Box Score: http://www.uwec.edu/athletics/soc/0607/stats/06-22.htm
Oshkosh 1, Stevens Point 0
Box Score: http://www.uwec.edu/athletics/soc/0607/stats/wiac-02.htm
Game Story: http://www.uwec.edu/athletics/soc/0607/wiac/day_one.htm
Saturday's Championship Game:
Oshkosh at Eau Claire, 1:00 PM
Saturday's Championship Game:
Eau Claire 3, Oshkosh 0
Eau Claire in as AQ, Oshkosh as Pool C: Eau Claire gets Concordia-Moorhead and Oshkosh gets Loras--anyone like the UW school's chances?? ;)
I like both of their chances, especially at home.
Final just in: Loras 1, UW Oshkosh 0. (Loras' goal was against the run of play, yet!) :-X
Per Loras announcers the Titans got more shots in, but just couldn't find the net.
Final just in: Wheaton, IL 2, UW-Eau Claire 0.
Props to Eau Claire on making the "Sweet 16." :) ;) :D
Heard about a West Bend, WI prep soccer player headed the WIAC's direction:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=603775
7/18/07
Another prep player headed the WIAC's direction:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=635177
Dave Morris, former head coach at UW-Stout, former assistant coach at UW-Green Bay, has landed on his feet to be head coach at Colorado-Pueblo, a DII school. Wow.
Does anyone know how Stevens Point did against UW-GB today?
Point whupped up on UWGB 6-1. Interestingly, three former UWGB players are now playing for Point: Megan Musbach, Leah Larson and Jackie Spees. Megan and Leah played two and three years ago, respectively, I believe; Jackie played there last season. I'm not sure what Ross' recruiting strategy is, but I suspect he may pay more attention to family income than player stats. That's just a cynical guess, though.
WIAC Finals:
8-31: St. Benedict (MN) 3, UW-Stout 2
UW-River Falls 3, Northland 0
UW-Whitewater 2, Benedictine 0
UW-Platteville 4, Marian 0
9-01: Concordia-MN 3, UW-Stout 0
St. Scholastica 2, UW-River Falls 1
UW-Oshkosh 4, St. Norbert 3
Wartburg 3, UW-Whitewater 2.
2007 WIAC Women's Tournament Results:
Semi-Finals: UW-Eau Claire 5, UW-LaCrosse 1
UW-Stevens Point 3, UW-Whitewater 2
Championship: UW-Eau Claire 1, UW-Stevens Point 0.
I think Stevens Point is a strong Pool C candidate.
Point and Eau-Claire in the post-season.
UWEC earned a great draw - they don't see Wheaton until the elite 8 (and they should get to the sweet 16 at least given their draw). Maybe UWSP can pull the upset and we can have an all-WIAC elite 8 match.
That would be nice.
The Pointers defeated St. Bens 3-2 in OT. They'll face Chicago on Sunday at 1:00.
UWEC loses 2-1 (EC got a late consolation goal) to Wartburg. Whoops.
So it is Stevens Point versus Wheaton in the sectionals. This match will probably take place at Wheaton and will be played on Friday evening. Joining Wheaton and UW-Stevens Point is Puget Sound and Wartburg.
Stevens Point has been one of Wheaton's better opponents over the years and thus the Pointers will be way up for this one. Wartburg is a bit of a Cinderella story and has a former Wheaton player as one its coaches. And Puget Sound played Wheaton in the Championship match in 2004. An interesting tie to each of the programs.
Earlier in the season, Wheaton defeated Stevens Point 5-2. I wouldn't bet on a score like that this weekend.
Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if Wheaton and Point combine for five or six goals again - even though I think Point's best chance is to play defensively and hang on. I'm predicting Puget Sound over Wartburg in the other match.
Wheaton over UW-Stevens Point 4-0
Wheaton dominated this match from start to finish. While the score could have been 5 or 6 to 0, the important thing is that Wheaton played their game against a good Pointers side and won. Richardson and Della Torre had a great match, as did Berg, Passiales and Folz. In fact every player did well - Hermann and Partain came off the bench and contributed in the 2nd half. Lee as always played well, but Stevens Point was all over her, limiting her opportunities.
The Pointers had one great chance for a goal when their striker found herself standing in front of an empty net with the ball at her feet - but she couldn't settle and shot over the crossbar. Other than that and perhaps one other set play opportunity, Stevens Point did not press the Wheaton keeper.
In the first half, Wheaton's transition game really hurt Stevens Point and it wasn't until Wheaton scored their first goal that the Pointers started marking Wheaton tighter, trying to take some space away from the Thunder. It didn't work and Wheaton went on to score another goal in short order. Midway through the 2nd half, Wheaton started to substitute and scored one more to finish it off. If you appreciate well played soccer, it was a great match to watch.
Wheaton is just too strong for the WIAC schools at the moment (and just about everyone else in D3). UWSP is a good team and is well coached, but the state schools just don't have the resources to get the kind of players that certain private schools can bring in with really great financial aid packages and national recruiting budgets.
It's nice to see the Pointers get further in the tournament than UW-EC - a team with a lot of talent . . .
So you're saying that other D3 schools have national recruiting budgets? And you feel that their financial aid packages they offer more than offset the WIAC's advantage of being able to offer in-state tuition?
I think Northern was speaking from the emotions.... He knows that the WIAC schools are cheaper to attend and have more resources than do the schools in the CCIW. For proof, just look at the Director's Cup standings - every year the WIAC schools put 2-3 of their members in the top 10. Over all, the WIAC produces great athletic programs and Northern knows this. And anyone who asks around can find out that Wheaton is among the toughest schools in the Midwest in handing out financial aid. Yes, Wheaton's tuition is cheaper than most of its peers, but the fact remains that it isn't financial aid that makes the difference - its the school.
Stevens Point and Eau Clair have always given Wheaton all it can handle both in the regular season and in the post-season. This was just one match and Wheaton played it perfectly. In future matches, things will be different.
Sorry Hiker, WIAC schools certainly have advantages (and some disadvantages) vs. the CCIW as a whole. But in terms of Wheaton, the Thunder can give "in-state" tuition to kids nationwide (and do) who fit their profile. Whether its Joe Bean on the men's side or whatever, they've been smart at leveraging this advantage, but it IS a huge one. Wheaton's record against UWSP over the last 7-8 years bears this out (not to mention their record against the rest of the WIAC). When you look at the top teams in soccer, Messiah, Wheaton, UAA schools . . . being able to recruit nationally is a HUGE edge.
That doesn't take away from what Wheaton's team is accomplishing, but it does mean that WIAC teams have to go back to the drawing board and try to figure out how to get players beyond their traditional recruiting areas.
Yes, Wheaton soccer has had the advantage over the WIAC in the past years - more with the women than with the men - but I doubt it's a money issue. Wheaton doesn't have an "in-state" tuition program and most of the soccer players are not big academic scholarship winners. I believe the draw is simply the ability to play for a successful program in a Christian academic environment. This really is the only draw for these players - after all, there are plenty of other great secular schools at which to play soccer.
test
I hear you!
The following 2008 Women's Soccer schedules are now up:
UW-Eau Claire:
http://www.uwed.edu/Athletics/soc/webpdf/0809/schedule.pdf
UW-LaCrosse:
http://perth.uwlax.edu/Athletics/wsoccer/schedule/
UW-Platteville:
http://www.uwplatt.edu/athletics/soccer/womens/2008/schedule.html
UW-River Falls
http://www.uwrf.edu/sports/soccer.schedule09.php
UW-Stevens Point
http://athletics.uwsp.edu/schedules.asp?path=wsoc
UW-Whitewater
http://www.uwwsports.com/schedules.asp?path=wsoc
The match with Wheaton playing Stevens Point looks like a potential for action. Every time that Wheaton and Stevens Point play, there is a lot of energy as the rivalry has been going on since 1992. Lately, Wheaton has had the better of the Pointers - and I'm sure that Coach Miech will remind her players of that fact as they review their 2008 schedule.
Overall, the WIAC is 9-25-3 against Wheaton since 1992, with most of the wins have coming from Sheila Miech and her squads.
More WIAC Women's '08 Schedules:
UW-Oshkosh:
http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/WSoccer/Schedule.html
UW-Stout:
http://www.uwstout.edu/athletics/soc/
Quote from: Jim Matson on June 03, 2008, 10:22:00 PM
Overall, the WIAC is 9-25-3 against Wheaton since 1992, with most of the wins have coming from Sheila Miech and her squads.
and those wins over Wheaton came during the 90's . . .
on another topic, is Stout going to make a move back into the top half of the WIAC? They have a pretty ambitious schedule for a team with their record the last couple of years, they used to be pretty good, what happened?
Anyone have predictions for this season?
Any "sleeper" teams to watch?
Quote from: Northern_Explorer on July 13, 2008, 06:16:18 PM
Quote from: Jim Matson on June 03, 2008, 10:22:00 PM
Overall, the WIAC is 9-25-3 against Wheaton since 1992, with most of the wins have coming from Sheila Miech and her squads.
and those wins over Wheaton came during the 90's . . .
on another topic, is Stout going to make a move back into the top half of the WIAC? They have a pretty ambitious schedule for a team with their record the last couple of years, they used to be pretty good, what happened?
They lost Coach Dave Morris. Under him, they made a brief run at competitiveness. He left and man of the solid players that he recruited followed him to DI UW-GB and some have followed him to DII CSU-P in Colorado.
Here's news on a prep player headed UW-Eau Claire's direction:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/47715722.html
("Where are they going?" section).
UW-Platteville coach in hospital after heart attack:
http://madisonsoccercentral.com/college/news/1509-fuschino-hospitalized-after-heart-attack
So is this a normal year where the WIAC teams get thumped by the CCIW teams?
In the past, it has been very well balanced, if not titled towards the WIAC. UW-SP and UW-EC have always been post-season caliber teams and have always played the CCIW tough. Maybe this year is a bit of a let down, but even if it is, it won't last.
Quote from: Jim Matson on September 13, 2009, 04:33:19 PM
In the past, it has been very well balanced, if not titled towards the WIAC. UW-SP and UW-EC have always been post-season caliber teams and have always played the CCIW tough. Maybe this year is a bit of a let down, but even if it is, it won't last.
Until recently, Wheaton had a lot of success against WIAC opponents (and everyone else, really), but the WIAC was clearly a deeper league overall. As the CCIW has improved, the WIAC seems a little weaker and you've got Augustana, IWC, and North Park all beating WIAC schools. So I don't know if it's a "normal" year, but this year the CCIW seems to be stronger. I know Carthage used to duck WIAC games - I doubt they do now.
Join the UW-Platteville Athletics Facebook Fan page at https://www.facebook.com/#!/uwplatteville.athletics
Or if you want the updates directly to your cell phone, UW-Platteville now has pre-game, in-game and post-game updates via escores at http://escores1.stretchinternet.com/login.htm?clientId=51266
Finally, UW-Platteville athletics will now webstream all of its home Pioneer soccer games.
Just as a PSA:
All games of the Wheaton Quadrant will be televised and broadcast on WETN. Broadcasts can be found at WETN.org and click on the watch live or listen live link on the right side of the page to select which form you would like.
Legendary coach Sheila Miech retires from UW-Stevens Point...
http://athletics.uwsp.edu/news/2012/6/26/WSOC_0626124306.aspx
Quote from: Just Bill on June 27, 2012, 12:57:27 PM
Legendary coach Sheila Miech retires from UW-Stevens Point...
http://athletics.uwsp.edu/news/2012/6/26/WSOC_0626124306.aspx
UWSP's new AD must be a real idiot.