Girls soccer: Kimberly holds off Wausau West in Division 1 sectional final as Warriors' historic season ends.

The Wausau West girls' soccer team made their first ever appearance in a sectional championship game on Saturday but the Warriors' hopes of a first trip to state came up painfully short in a 1-0 loss to Kimberly in Stevens Point on Saturday afternoon in a game broadcast live on the Wausau Area Sports YouTube channel.

As expected with these two teams whose defensive numbers led them to this game, the scoring chances were limited. Just over 16 minutes into the first half the Warriors had difficulty clearing the ball and the Papermakers took advantage as Kennedy Ebben grabbed control of the ball just outside the penalty box and used her left foot to put the ball into the right corner of the net. The 1-0 lead was maintained by Kimberly for the rest of the first half.

In the second half Wausau West pressed for the equalizer but Kimberly, who has recorded 20 clean sheets in 23 games this season while allowing just 5 goals total, were too difficult to breakdown. West did not record a shot on goal in the game. Kimberly had 7 shots with West goalkeeper Grace Kallio making six saves. Kallio made a pair of quality saves in the 2nd half to keep the Warriors within touch.

Kimberly advance to the state tournament for the 3rd consecutive year and 5th time overall with a 22-1 record this season. They will play in a Division 1 state semifinal Thursday at either 4:30 pm or 7 pm in Milwaukee. The Warriors finish their season with a 12-6-3 record and see the high school careers of 9 seniors who helped take this team deeper into the playoffs that any West girls' soccer team in school history.