By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Jun 13, 2017 at 12:02 PM

Spring has given way to summer, but for the state’s best high school girls soccer teams and players, there’s still the important matter of concluding the 2017 season and determining who will raise the championship trophy. Once again, Uihlein Soccer Park will host the 35th annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Soccer Tournament, which is expected to draw thousands to the venue June 15-17.

Part of the award-winning Milwaukee County Parks System and home of the Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club, Uihlein, 7101 W. Good Hope Road, is the place to be Thursday, Friday and Saturday for teams, spectators, WIAA officials and media members. The single-elimination tournament features four teams in each of the four divisions, with all semifinal and final matches played at the soccer park’s 3,000-seat KOHLER Engines Stadium Field.

Ticket prices are $8 per session – $1 for children 6-years old or younger – and are available at the park. Parking on-site is $5 per car/per day, and programs cost $4. Additional tournament information can be found on the Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club website or by calling Uihlein Soccer Park at 414-358-2678.

Here is the 2017 WIAA Girls State Soccer Championship Tournament schedule:

Thursday, June 15

Division 1 Semifinals

11 a.m. – Muskego vs. Bay Port
1:30 p.m. – Oconomowoc vs. Brookfield Central

Division 4 Semifinals

4:30 p.m. – Brookfield Academy vs. Aquinas
7 p.m. – Lake Country Lutheran/University Lake School vs. Howards Grove

Friday, June 16

Division 3 Semifinals

11 a.m. – Rice Lake vs. Catholic Memorial
1:30 p.m. – Winneconne vs. Edgewood

Division 2 Semifinals

4:30 p.m. – Wauwatosa East vs. Pulaski
7 p.m. – Whitefish Bay vs. Oregon

Saturday, June 17th

Finals: Teams to be determined based on semifinal outcome

11:05 a.m. – Division 1 Championship
1:35 p.m. – Division 4 Championship
4:35 p.m. – Division 3 Championship
7:05 p.m. – Division 2 Championship

The semifinals of all four divisions of the tournament will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a consumer subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription image in the middle of the page.

All four finals matches will be aired live on FOX Sports Wisconsin or the FOX Sports Wisconsin Plus channel. The Division 1 championship will be aired at 11 a.m. on FOX Sports Wisconsin, and the Divisions 4 and 3 title games will be on FOX Sports Wisconsin Plus at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively. The Division 2 final will air on FOX Sports Wisconsin or start on FOX Sports Wisconsin Plus if Brewers programming runs long. Check local cable listings for the channel in your area. The tournament finals will also be streamed live on the FoxSportsGo app.

The fastest way to get results will be to access the girls soccer home page on the WIAA website and choose the appropriate link.

Information about the teams in each of the four divisions, courtesy of the WIAA, is on Page 2.

Division 1 notes:  Brookfield Central is back at State for the 13th time and for the first time since 2013. The Lancers had an impressive run of success from 2001-06, making six consecutive appearances and winning four straight titles from 2002-05. In addition to the championships, they were runner-up in 1992. They are the representatives out of the Sheboygan North Sectional following a 1-0 win over Arrowhead  in the Sheboygan North final. The Lancers are the champions of the Greater Metro Conference this spring. Muskego has qualified for the fourth year in a row, which also accounts for the Warriors’ overall total. They are attempting to advance beyond the semifinal round of the State Tournament for the first time. The Warriors edged Kenosha Tremper 3-2 in overtime in the Kenosha Bradford Sectional final to advance to the State semifinals. They tied Arrowhead for the championship in the Classic Eight Conference this season. Bay Port is making its third State appearance and its first since a loss in the quarterfinals in 2010. The Pirates’ first experience in the tournament came in 2008 when they advanced to the semifinals before being ousted from title contention. They are the co-champions of the Fox River Classic Conference with Notre Dame this spring, and they remain in contention for a State title with a 3-2 victory over Eau Claire Memorial in the D.C. Everest Sectional final. Oconomowoc will be playing in the State Tournament for the first time in the program’s history. The Raccoons earned their first berth with a 4-3 advantage in a shootout following a 1-1 tie with Madison Memorial in the Sun Prairie Sectional final. They are the champions of the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference this season.

Division 2 notes:  Last year’s runner-up Oregon makes its third appearance in the State Tournament with sights on a third straight appearance in the title game. The Panthers won the championship in their first State experience in 2015. They continue their quest for a State championship following a 1-0 overtime victory over Burlington in the sectional final held at Oregon. They shared the league championship in the South Division of the Badger Conference with Edgewood this season.  Whitefish Bay is making its membership-leading 19th appearance in the State Tournament and its second in the past three seasons. The Blue Dukes have won seven championships, which is second-most in the membership. Three of their titles have come in Division 2 (1998-2000) and four came prior to expanding the tournament to more than one division (1983-85, 1994). They have also claimed runner-up finishes in 1997, 2001 and 2005. The Blue Dukes defeated Notre Dame 2-0 in the sectional final played in Oshkosh. They are the North Shore Conference co-champions with Cedarburg this spring. Wauwatosa East has qualified for the tournament for the ninth time and for the first time since 2003 when the Red Raiders were runners-up in Division 1. They have three State championship trophies in their possession, winning the title in 1993 and 1996, when there was only one division classification, and in Division 1 in 1997. They  also had back-to-back runner-up finishes in 1998-99. The Red Raiders advanced from the sectional final they hosted with a 10-9 advantage in a shootout with Pewaukee following a 3-3 tie after two overtimes. They placed third in the Greater Metro Conference, which was won by Division 1 State qualifier Brookfield Central. Pulaski will make its second straight appearance and its third overall. The Red Raiders fell in the quarterfinals of the Division 1 bracket in their first appearance in 2004 and in the semifinals a year ago. They return to the final field of four following a 2-0 win over New Richmond in the Marshfield Sectional final. The Red Raiders finished seventh in the Fox River Classic Conference, which was won by Division 1 qualifier Bay Port.

Division 3 notes:  Catholic Memorial has won five straight championships, two in Division 2  (2012 & 2013) and the past three years in Division 3 (2014-16). The Crusaders make their 12th straight appearance in the State Tournament and their 13th overall. Their impressive streak of success includes a membership-leading nine championships and two runner-up finishes over the span of the last 13 years, having won championships in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and again last year. Prior to joining the WIAA, Catholic Memorial won three WISAA titles and finished runner-up once. The Crusaders rolled past New Berlin West 4-0 in the sectional final they hosted to remain in contention for a sixth straight championship. They finished conference play in fourth place in the Classic Eight Conference this season, which featured Arrowhead and Division 1 State qualifier Muskego as its co-champions. Edgewood will be making its fifth overall appearance in the tournament and its first since completing a string of three straight appearances in Division 2 with a championship in 2011. The Crusaders’ also won the Division 2 championship in 2009 and finished runner-up in their first-ever appearance in 2006. Prior to joining the WIAA, they were runners-up in WISAA in 1987. They will contend for their third championship after a 1-0 win over Mount Horeb in the Edgewood Sectional final. The Crusaders are the co-champions of the South Division of the Badger Conference with Division 2 qualifier Oregon this spring. Rice Lake has qualified to appear in the State Tournament for the first time following the Warriors’ 6-1 triumph over Lakeland in the sectional final held in Rice Lake. During the regular season, they finished seventh in the Big Rivers Conference. Winneconne will also experience the State Tournament for the first time after its 5-1 win over Plymouth in the Seymour Sectional final. The Wolves and Plymouth tied for first place in the East Central Conference this season.

Division 4 notes: Last season’s runner-up Aquinas qualifies for the third straight season and for its seventh time overall. The Blugolds’ won the Division 4 championship in 2015 and were runners-up in Division 3 in 2005. They are the champions of the Mississippi Valley Conference this spring. Their tournament path to State came through the Assumption Sectional with a 2-0 win over Wrightstown in the final. Lake Country Lutheran/University Lake School is making its fourth State appearance, which have all come in the last six years. The Lightning won the Division 3 championship in its appearance in 2012 and finished runner-up in Division 4 in 2015. It should be noted that Lake Country Lutheran and University Lake School also qualified twice when it included Trinity Academy in a separate co-op in 2013 and 2014. On each of those occasions, the co-op fell in the semifinals. This year, the Lightning advances to the State semifinals with a 4-0 win over Mayville in the Hartford Sectional final. They placed second in the Midwest Classic Conference behind another State semifinalist, Brookfield Academy, during the regular season. It’s the second time in the past three seasons Brookfield Academy has qualified for the State Tournament. The Blue Knights were eliminated from title contention in their first-ever appearance in 2015 as a result of a shootout in the semifinals. They beat defending champion The Prairie School 5-4 in overtime in the sectional final hosted by The Prairie School to return to the tournament field. They finished atop the Midwest Classic Conference standings this spring. Howards Grove will make its first appearance in the State Tournament after the Tigers’ notched a 2-1 win over Oostburg in the New Holstein Sectional final. They placed third in the Big East Conference this year. 

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.