Updated Women's Soccer Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS -- Milwaukee and Butler will meet for the Horizon League's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET from the Butler Bowl in Indianapolis, following the teams' respective wins on Friday.
No. 2 seed Milwaukee (11-6-2) used two first-half goals to knock of fourth-seeded Wright State (11-9-0), 2-0, in the opening semifinal, while Butler beat Detroit, 2-1, in the second match of the day.
Milwaukee's Sarah Hagen potted her 10th career goal in six tournament matches to put the Panthers on top early, and Helen Steinhauser drilled a goal off a set piece midway through the first half to lead Milwaukee to the win.
Nicole Sperl assisted on both goals for the Panthers, who controlled play throughout in finishing with 17 shots and 10 on goal.
Panthers goalkeeper Leslie Deebach recorded her first solo shutout, making one save over 90 minutes.
The entry in the Horizon League tournament finals is the fourth straight for the Panthers, who will appear in their Horizon League-record 12th women's soccer championship match.
In the second semifinal of the afternoon, Butler scored an 83rd-minute goal after the teams traded goals in the opening half to get past Detroit, 2-1. Off a corner kick from the southwest corner, Olivia Colosimo found Jackie Hafele on the back post; Hafele's header found the back of the net to push the Bulldogs into their first conference championship match since 2002.
Detroit struck first in the match when Kaitlyn Quarrell drilled a shot from the top of the 18; the goal was Quarrell's third of the tournament.
Butler answered in the 42nd minute when Nikki Hafele found Claire Milam on the left side of the box; Milam's strike beat keeper Nora Abolins, tying the contest heading into the intermission.
The Bulldogs and Panthers met in the regular season on Oct. 10, with Butler coming away with a 1-0 victory at Engelmann Field in Milwaukee. Katie Griswold tallied the match's lone goal, while Butler goalkeeper Olivia Walter made 10 saves in the win.
Sunday's match will be live on HorizonLeague.com, with coverage starting at 12:55 p.m. ET.
Tags: Butler - Women's Soccer · Milwaukee - Women's Soccer
