PLATTEVILLE — The Southwest Wisconsin Conference champion Platteville/Lancaster boys soccer team closed out the regular season with a 1–1 draw against Dodgeville/Mineral Point (8–7–3, 3–3–2 SWC) on a windy, rainy Thursday night at PHS.
Junior Michael Murphy scored on an assist from Deon Pearsall in the 50th minute to break a scoreless tie, but the Dodgers (8–7–3, 3–3–2 SWC) evened the match with a goal in the 57th minute.
“It was a good night to end the season with Senior Night and a lot of reserve players got to play in their first varsity game,” said Hillmen head coach Cristian Flores.
The draw had no effect on the final conference standings, as the Hillmen (9–6–2) had already clinched the outright SWC title two nights earlier with a 3–1 victory over Prairie du Chien/River Ridge/Seneca (0–11–1, 0–8–0).
“Winning conference outright is a huge accomplishment for us,” said Flores. “It’s been a goal of ours for the last three years since I started. Winning it outright this season with an undefeated conference season is amazing! I’m proud of how the boys played so far this season and glad to bring the boys soccer conference title back to Platteville. We have now proven to the conference that we are at the top and now we must stay there.”
Adam Whisenant, Murphy (70’) and Jesus Mendez Garcia (71’) scored the three Hillmen goals in the win. Sophomore Alex Gruber made five saves in net.
The win over the Blackhawks snapped a brief two-game losing streak for the Hillmen, who were in a bit of a late-season funk, losing four of five and being outscored 15–5 in that stretch before last Tuesday’s victory.
Platteville finished 6–0–2 in the SWC, 2.5 games clear of both River Valley (9–9–3, 4–3–1) and Richland Center (6–9–2, 4–3–1).
Platteville opened the WIAA Division 2 playoffs Tuesday at Mississippi Valley Conference champion, #7 ranked and No. 3 seed Tomah (13–0–1) in a D2 regional quarterfinal.
The Hillmen have played in Division 3 the last 10 years after the WIAA expanded to four divisions for boys soccer in 2013.
Platteville/Lancaster 3, Prairie du Chien 1
(from Tuesday, Oct. 10 @ Prairie du Chien)
Platteville/Lancaster 1 2 — 2
Prairie du Chien/RR/Seneca 0 1 — 1
First half — P/L: Adam Whisenant.
Second half — PdC: name unavailable 67:00; P/L: Michael Murphy 70:00, Jesus Mendez Garcia 71:00.
Saves — P/L: Alex Gruber 5; PdC: 13. Shots (on Goal) — P/L: 42 (15), PdC: 10 (6). Corner Kicks — P/L: n/a, PdC: n/a.
Platteville/Lancaster 1, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 1
(from Thursday, Oct. 12 @ Platteville)
Dodgeville/Mineral Point 0 1 — 1
Platteville/Lancaster 0 1 — 1
First half — none.
Second half — P/L: Michael Murphy (Deon Pearsall) 50:00; D/MP: name unavailable, 57:00.
Saves — P/L: Alex Gruber 11; D/MP: 4. Shots (on Goal) — P/L: 22 (5), D/MP: 18 (12). Corner Kicks — P/L: 3, D/MP: 3.
