WHITEWATER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – While the UW-Eau Claire soccer team had a strong showing Tuesday in a 3-1 win over UW-Platteville in the first round of the WIAC Championship, the Blugolds were unable to get past No. 1-seed and 16^th-ranked UW-Whitewater, falling 3-0 in the semifinals tonight.

WIAC Championship Website | Box Score

The Warhawks struck first, scoring on a header in the 12^th minute. After leading 1-0 at halftime, Whitewater scored two more goals early in the second half to get out take a 3-0 lead. The Warhawks found the back of the net at 53:03 and followed with another at 61:36.

Whitewater led the shot chart 14-7, 9-2 on-goal, and Blugold goalkeeper Nina Behrenbrinker (Sr.-St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) finished the game with six saves. She finishes her career with 229 saves, playing in 61 games, 59 of which she started.

Caroline Henderson (So.-Duluth, Minn./East) led the Blugolds with three shots, one of which was on-goal. Paige LeGate (Sr.-Green Bay, Wis./Bay Port) had the other shot-on-goal while finishing with a total of two shots.

The Warhawks finished the game with 13 corner kicks while the Blugolds had three.

Whitewater, which remains unbeaten (15-0-4), advances to the finals of the WIAC Championship and will host UW-Stout or UW-Oshkosh Saturday at 6 p.m. The winner will automatically qualify for the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship.

The Blugolds end 2013 with an 8-9-3 overall record. They finished conference play with a 4-3-1 record, tied for fourth place.

-KM-