The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Men's Soccer team fended off Washington University in St. Louis for a full 110 minutes, but the Bears took the advantage in the penalty kicks, advancing to the second round of the NCAA DIII Tournament with a 3-1 PK final.

Austin Waite (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) played a lock-down game on the goal line, making eight saves to keep the 10th-ranked Bears. Waite finished his first season with the Warhawks with an 85.5% save percentage, ranking 5th in the Warhawk record book. 

In the first half, the Warhawks were in a deadlock with the Bears. WashU took an early shot on goal, but the Warhawks matched it with a 18-yard attempt from Mason Diercks (Oregon, Wis./Oregon). Despite a few pushes from either team, neither were able to get a clean look on net.

The Bears managed to get one more clean look before the first break, but Waite made the save to keep the score even through 45 minutes. 

After the break, the Warhawks took two early shots, with another attempt from Diercks saved by the WashU goalie. But towards the end of the half, the Bears went on the offensive, in the last 10 minutes, they took three shots on goal, holding the Warhawk offense in check.

With less than a minute on the clock, the Warhawks had one of their best looks on the net, but Cooper Re's (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) shot was deflected into the keeper's end to send the game into extra time.

WashU was on the offensive in the extra minutes, taking four total shots on goal in the two periods. UW-Whitewater wasn't able to get anything towards the net despite a few strong breakaways.

With the scoreboard still blank at the end of 110 minutes, the first round went into PKs.

After WashU scored on their first attempt, Luka Breslin (Dublin, Ireland/Terenure College) matched for the Warhawks to even the score. Austin Waite (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) made the save on the second attempt, but the Warhawks were unable to get the next one to go. 

Hayden Saul's (Iowa City, Iowa/Liberty) attempt was initially saved, but a lucky bounce looked like it might roll in. WashU's keeper was able to clear before the ball fully crossed.

Waite gave the Warhawks another attempt to tie it, making his second save of the PKs. Zeke Healy (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) lined up and got another unlucky bounce after his attempt hit the top cross bar.

WashU converted on their 5th attempt, advancing to the second round of the NCAA DIII Soccer Tournament. They will face their UAA conference-opponent UChicago on Sunday, November 15th at 3 PM on Fiskum Field.

The Warhawks finished their 2025 campaign with a 14-3-3 record overall, but set numerous marks in their 20 games. As a team, the Warhawks scored 50 goals with 59 assists for 159 points. The 59 assists are a new Warhawk record, and the 159 points are second most in school history. Cooper Re's (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) 15 goal season was the most since 1998, and Coach Guinn set the record for most wins at the helm of the Warhawk program. After 13 seasons, Guinn has amassed 167 wins to lead the Warhawk record books.