For the second time in school history, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's soccer team will advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Warhawks, 19-4, defeated Wheaton (Ill.) 2-0 Saturday at Fiskum Field in Whitewater. Saturday's win is the first time in program history that the Warhawks have defeated the Thunder.

As they have done all season, the Warhawks got out to a fast start. UW-W earned two corners in the first seven and a half minutes to put immediate pressure on the Thunder.

In the eighth minute, Carly Pottle (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) tipped a ball into the air towardsMarie Lesperance (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) who headed it in for a 1-0 Warhawk lead.

Wheaton countered four minutes later but a header glanced off the crossbar and the Thunder stayed off the scoreboard.

Erin Doody (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way Central) made a save on a shot by the Thunder's Ally Witt in the 14th minute, but Wheaton continued to pressure the Warhawks' defense. Another header in the 20th minute missed wide left and Doody stopped another shot in the 22nd minute to preserve the 1-0 Warhawk advantage.

Doody made two more saves in the final eleven minutes of the first half and UW-W headed into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

Brianna Reid (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) gave her best effort in the 47th minute to give the Warhawks a 2-0 cushion, but Thunder keeper Mary Daghfal stopped the header from going into the net.

In the 66th minute Wheaton committed a foul in the box that resulted in a penalty kick. The Warhawks elected Morgan Beaty (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) to take the shot, but her shot sailed just high and the game remained 1-0.

Minutes later Pottle found Beaty who slipped it to Brianna Reid (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) for her 20th goal of the season and a 2-0 Warhawk lead.

"Morgan had great composure and didn't get rattled by the missed penalty kick. That was a big time play by a sophomore," Head Coach Ryan Quamme commented after the game.

Wheaton turned up the heat in the final 15 minutes but the Warhawk defense did just what they have all season, and that was turn away any good scoring opportunity. Doody and the defense were peppered with shots, but evaded any chinks in the armor.

Quamme was an assistant coach for the Warhawks in 2011 when UW-W advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time.

"We are going to take a couple days off and then see who we are playing and where we are going. Beating Wheaton was a mental step for us. They knocked us out of the tournament two times" Quamme added.

With the win on Saturday, UW-W set a school record for wins (19). The previous record (18) was set last season. In each of his first four seasons as head coach, Quamme has added an additional win. In 2012 UW-W won 16 games, in 2013 they won 17, last season they reached 18, and this year 19.

UW-W will play the winner of a match between Illinois Wesleyan and Pomona-Pitzer to be played Sunday at 2 pm. The location of the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 will be announced late Sunday night, early Monday morning. Check out uwwsports.com for more information as it becomes available.

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