Box Score |  Notes

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2010) - Sarah Hagen and Helen Steinhauser each scored goals in the first half to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team to a 2-0 win over Wright State in the semifinals of the 2010 Horizon League Championship Friday afternoon at the Butler Bowl.

The Panthers (11-6-2) now advance to their fourth-straight league championship and league-record 12th overall. They will take on the winner of the day's second semifinal between No. 1 Butler and No. 6 Detroit.

"We are happy to advance to the final," Milwaukee head coach Michael Moynihan said. "It was a well-earned victory. We scored some nice goals. We got on the board with two goals in the first half. A lot of the time in conference games when we fall into a position early where we're chasing the game it gets tough. So to get on it early and score some nice goals was key for us."

Hagen got the ball rolling with her 16th goal of the season in the 16th minute. Nicole Sperl got the assist on the play, the first of two on the day for her. She started the play with a crafty chip on a free kick that the Raiders cleared outside. She won a ball and sent a cross into the box. Hagen won the ball with her head and sent it into the goal at the near post.

The goal stood up as Hagen's school-record seventh game-winning goal of the season.

In the 25th minute, Sperl set up an insurance goal with a free kick from 25 yards out. Once again she chipped the ball over a Wright State wall. Steinhauser got on the other end of the play and tucked the ball into the goal for her first score of the season.

Milwaukee controlled the momentum of the game throughout, holding a commanding 17-4 shot advantage and giving up few chances forward to WSU. The Raiders did take a slight 3-2 edge in corner kicks, but were unable to convert as they had in the regular season meeting. In that game, Wright State tallied a goal off a corner and had that score hold up in a 1-0 win.

In the second half, the Panthers outshot their opponent, 9-1, as they fought to put the game out of reach. They had a number of opportunities, but Wright State keeper Brooke McCurdy came up with six saves in the half to keep it a two-goal game. She finished with eight saves in the game.

Leslie Deebach made one save in her first career post-season start to get the clean sheet. The solo shutout was the first of her career.

Sunday's game is scheduled for noon central time.