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LA CROSSE (November 2, 2017) - UW-Stout will travel to UW-La Crosse, Thursday, Nov. 2 in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships (Presented by Culver's). Game time is 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles enter the tournament as the top-seed while the Blue Devils are the fourth-seed. UWL is making its 24th all-time appearance in the WIAC Championship tournament while UW-Stout is making its 20th appearance.
UWL captured the 1996 tournament title with a 4-1 victory over UW-Stevens Point. The Eagles advanced to the championship match on two other occasions in school history, losing 1-0 in overtime to UW-Stevens Point in 1999 and 3-0 at UW-Whitewater in 2016. UWL is 12-22-1 all-time in the conference tournament, including a 1-0 victory over UW-Eau Claire in last season's semifinals.
UW-Stout is looking for its first WIAC championship game appearance in school history. The Blue Devils are 5-17-2 all-time in the league tournament.
UWL and UW-Stout are tied, 2-2, all-time in the conference tournament. The Eagles earned a 3-1 victory in the semifinals in 1996 and 2-1 win in the quarterfinals in 2008. The Blue Devils earned a 2-1 overtime win in the 2005 quarterfinals and a 1-0 victory in the 2013 first round.
UWL leads the all-time series, 16-7-3, with UW-Stout. The Eagles earned a 4-0 home victory over the Blue Devils October 11. UWL finished with 28 shots in the game, including 14 on goal, while UW-Stout totaled 13 shots with four on goal. Kaitlyn Villars, Alex Cording, Maddie Granos and Hayley Hargroder scored for UWL while Margaret Harings had two assists. Hayley Stephens, Tori Barnhart and Granos had one assist. Lily Brock (76:27) recorded three saves for UWL while Kennedy Brault (13:33) had one. Lynn Johnson finished with 10 saves for UW-Stout.
UWL is 16-1-2 overall this season and finished 7-0 in the WIAC, capturing its third regular-season league championship in school history (1996, 2015, 2017). The Eagles finished undefeated in conference play for the first time in school history. Winners of a school record 11 straight games, UWL's 16 overall victories this year is a single-season school record. The Eagles won a school record 14 games in 2016.
UW-Stout is 9-5-5 on the season after finishing 3-1-3 in league play. The Blue Devils advanced to Thursday's semifinals after a 2-1 double overtime home win over UW-Stevens Point in the first round of the championships Tuesday, October 31. Hannah Kirchner scored the winning goal at 102:24, her first goal of the season. UW-Stout took a 1-0 lead Tuesday with Kaitlyn Hess scoring her seventh goal of the year at 6:19. UW-Stevens Point tied the game at 1-1 at 41:48 after Kenadie Cain scored. Johnson recorded six saves for UW-Stout.
Hess leads the Blue Devils in scoring with seven goals and four assists. Sydney Kasper has six goals and five assists. Ryanne Milli has two goals and a team-best seven assists.
UW-Stout has won its last five games heading into Thursday's semifinal and has a seven game unbeaten streak. The Blue Devils are 6-3 on the road this season, with one of their road losses coming at UW-La Crosse, a 4-0 blanking Oct. 11. Stout has gone into seven overtime games this season, winning one - the Stevens Point tournament game - losing one - a 3-2 loss to Saint Mary's of New York - and tied five, including three conference games. All of Stout's tied game decisions came at home. Of Stout's 19 games, 16 have been either decided by one goal or have been tied games.
Hess leads the team in goals (7) and points (18) while Sydney Kasper is second in goals (6) and points (17) while ranking second in assists (5). Ryanne Millis has a team-high seven assists. Ten different players have scored a goal this season for UW-Stout.
Johnson is 7-4-4 on the year with a 1.16 goals against average and five shutouts.
UWL is 8-0-1 at home this year. Villars leads the Eagles in goals (12) and points (30) while Harings, Cording and Granos are tied for second in goals (9). Harings leads UWL in assists (7) while ranking second in points (25). Cording and Granos each have four goals and 22 points.
The team has outscored its opponents, 56-12, this year. Twelve players have scored a goal while 17 players have recorded an assist. Brock is 10-1 in 2017 with a 0.36 goals against average and six shutouts. UWL has set a school record with 11 shutouts in 2017, breaking the previous mark of 10 in 1995, 2001 and 2016.
All UWL students will be admitted free if they enter before the start of the game Thursday. Tickets are $1.00 for students after the start of the game. Adults are $7.00 and senior citizens/children are $5.00.
Third-seeded UW-Oshkosh travels to second-seeded UW-Whitewater in the other semifinal match-up November 2. The semifinal winners advance to the WIAC Championship game Saturday, November 4 at the highest remaining seed. The winner of the conference tournament earns the league's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships. - by UW-La Crosse sports information
