While too many stayed inside on a beautiful Sunday to watch the Packers take it on the chin in Tampa Bay, I spent my afternoon at UWM's Engelmann Field watching the Horizon League Championship match between UWM and Valparaiso.

Why? No, I'm not a UMW grad but one of my best friends is the associate head coach, so I was there for moral support. Plus, truth be told, this 2009 Panthers squad can play, and a perfect weather November soccer match that matters is hard to stay away from.

The team delivered as sophomore Sarah Hagen tied a school record with four goals to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women to a 4-0 victory.

The Panthers (12-5-3) won their 10th straight game and claimed the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The championship is Milwaukee's sixth in 11 title game appearances.

"I think we are starting to show a mental toughness and we have grown a lot (over the season)," UWM head coach Michael Moynihan said. "(This team) has done well for itself and I am very proud of them. We hope to make a good run now (in the NCAA tournament). I think we are positioned for it."

Hagen's four goals tied a school record she had also previously tied during UWM's regular season showdown with the Crusaders (11-9-1). Her third hat trick of the season gave her 24 goals for the season, tying the school and league record she set last season. Hagen was named the tournament Most Valuable Player for the second straight season.

On Monday, the team will gather at Harry's Bar and Grill in Shorewood to watch the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament Selection Show and learn their tourney fate.

It airs at 7 p.m. on ESPNews. UWM is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA tournament, following its first berth in 1997, back-to-back trips to the tournament in 2001-02 and
2005-06 and last season. The Panthers have previously been sent to Minnesota (1997), Notre Dame twice (2006, 08) and across town to Marquette three times (2001-02, 2005).

The Marquette women's soccer team will host a viewing party for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 6:45 p.m. Monday at the Union Sports Annex located on the corner of 16th and Wells Streets.

The No. 10 Marquette women's soccer team fell just short in its first title game of the Big East Championship Sunday with a 2-1 heartbreaking loss to No. 4 Notre Dame at Morrone Stadium on the campus of the University of Connecticut. The Golden Eagles stand at 15-5-2 overall.