In a battle of nationally ranked teams, the UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh men's soccer teams played to draw, 1-1 in double overtime, at Bob Fiskum Field in Whitewater Saturday night, to share the 2010 championship.  UW-Whitewater won the league's initial title when the WIAC began sponsoring men's soccer in 2009. 

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Photo Gallery: Photos for Sale (Photos by Crystal Meyer)

Oshkosh's Robby Giljohann was the first player to get a good shot off, stopped by a UW-W block at 4:44.  The Titans' Brian Miller almost broke the scoreless tie with a shot at 8:54 that UW-W defenders actually made a save on.  Steve Nashleanas (Brookfield/East) got off a good shot at 15:24, but the UW-O defense saved the goal, and their goalie.  The teams went in to halftime deadlocked -- which would be a familiar feeling all night.

UW-W had three shots, two of them by Dan Montanye (Mukwonago/Mukwonago), in the first ten minutes of the second half that required either a block or a save, but they couldn't find the back of the net.  Nick Laubenstein of Oshkosh was inside for a header that also was a near miss. 

Finally, at 57:25, Montanye broke the ice with his seventh goal of the season.

Oshkosh put a lot of pressure on UW-W in an attempt to tie, getting off six shots over a 14 minute span that required a block by a defender or a save to keep the Titans off the scoreboard.  With the clock running down Tim Stadler of UW-O earned a penalty shot, which he put in to tie the game at the 88:56 mark.

Both teams had just one shot in the first overtime, and one each in the second overtime.

UW-W goalie Matt Mikesell (Waukesha/Kettle Moraine) made seven saves among 17 shots from the Titans.  Whitewater took ten shots, and James Pike made two saves for UW-O.  Both teams had seven corner kicks.

UW-Whitewater, now 12-1-3, is ranked 11th in the D3soccer.com poll and 13th in the NSCAA poll.  UW-Oshkosh, 16-0-3, is sixth in the NSCAA and 17th in D3soccer.

Whitewater will take a quick trip to California to play Chapman University November 5.  UW-W is awaiting a bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship tournament, which begins play somewhere between November 11-13, depending on which teams are involved and who hosts the early round games.  It may be that Whitewater and Oshkosh haven't seen the last of each other this season.

The Warhawk soccer program had a banner night, with both UW-W teams clinching WIAC titles on the same field.  In a game played earlier Saturday night the Warhawk women defeated UW-La Crosse 3-2 in overtime to clinch their first WIAC title.

For additional information:  Greg Henschel, UW-W soccer coordinator