Nov. 12, 2014 By Kali Schmieding
For the past four seasons, the UW-Whitewater Warhawks have been to the NCAA tournament.
Despite losing in the WIAC championship game to the UW-Oshkosh Titans, the ’Hawks will take on the Centre College (Kentucky) Praying Colonels in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The match will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 15 on Washington University’s campus in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Praying Colonels received an automatic bid for winning the Southern Athletic Association championship.
The ’Hawks women’s soccer team set two school records this season.
The team has 15 consecutive wins to set a record along with a record-setting 18 wins on the season.
Only losing two non-conference games, the ’Hawks went 8-0 in the WIAC.
“I think we had a great season,” head coach Ryan Quamme said. “I think our stretch of 15 wins in a row is pretty remarkable. Soccer is a game of inches. We have had focus and discipline to keep finding results, and it is very impressive. We set a school record for wins. Obviously, the win streaks were the longest in conference history, as well as our history. I am very excited about our regular season.”
The ’Hawks completed many of the goals they had set this season.
“Soccer is a team sport,” senior defender Kelsey Beld said. “There are eleven players on the field at any one time. I have 28 teammates, all of whom play an important role on the team and contribute to its success. Each individual plays a role, plays a part, but the team can only have success when the entire team plays as a single unit.”
’Hawks went on to host UW-River Falls Falcons in the WIAC semi-finals last Thursday on Fiskum Field.
The match started out with an early goal by sophomore forward Brianna Reid. Her goal was assisted by junior midfielder Jenna Woodson.
“I think post-season play is tough, especially the conference tournament,” Quamme said. “It is a real hard game to play with competitive teams twice, especially when you got the results we wanted the first time.”
Before the end of the first half, Beld scored her first career goal with an assist from freshman forward Morgan Beaty.
“I thought Kelsey [Beld] really capitalized on her minutes in that match,” Quamme said. “It was her first career goal, and she is a senior. She has played a couple different positions this year. She just went in and made a veteran finish.”
With a 2-0 win over the Falcons, the ’Hawks went on to the WIAC championship against the Titans.
Last Saturday, the ’Hawks 15 game win-streak was snapped by the Titans on Fiskum Field.
The Titans outshot the ’Hawks 23-8 and won 1-0 earning the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“Our game against Oshkosh in the WIAC Conference Tournament Championship did not end up as we had hoped,” Beld said. “Oshkosh is a good team and we knew we would have to play our best to win that game. I think we had trouble executing our game plan, especially related to possessing the ball. We will break down the Oshkosh game and learn from it.”
