July 10, 2026
Central Region Playoff semifinal action kicks off Saturday at 4 p.m. when hosts Salvo SC and St. Croix Legacy kick off semifinal action Saturday on the campus of University of Northwestern St. Paul. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CDT, followed by Lone Star Conference champions Austin Rise FC versus Midwest Conference winners Kansas City Current II at 7 p.m. CDT.
Salvo SC finished its 2026 regular season schedule 7-0-1, tied with Minnesota Thunder at the top of the Northern Conference table with 21 points. Salvo’s only blemish on the season came in Week Seven with a 1-0 road loss to Minnesota Thunder.
Entering her junior year at the University of Minnesota, Davy Mokelke finished the regular season tied for the conference Golden Boot with six goals, followed by sister Golden Gopher, Matigann Vixayvong, with five goals on the season. Vixayvong, entering her sophomore year, made 18 appearances as a freshman for the University of Nebraska before transferring to Minnesota over the summer. Mokelke and Vixayvong account for nine of the 16 goals Salvo tallied over eight regular season fixtures.
Ranked second in the conference, Salvo’s defense, anchored by center backs Fiona Skwierawski, a senior at the University of Kansas, and Brooke Nygaard, a junior at the University of St. Thomas, allowed a paltry five goals this season. The goalkeeping corps of Ayden Gagner and Samantha Swidorski each posted two clean sheets on the season. Gagner, who will be a Freshman at the University of University of St. Thomas made five starts for Salvo, earning a 0.8 goal against average. Swidorsk, a junior at Saint Anselm College, made three starts posting a 0.33 goal against average.
Since joining the league in 2019, Salvo has advanced to the Central Region Playoffs twice: in 2023, falling to the Colorado Rapids Women in the Central Region Playoffs semifinal, and in 2024, where it won the Central Region to advance to the WPSL Championships Final, losing 1-0 to Charlotte Eagles.
St. Croix Legacy makes its second consecutive postseason appearance after its run to the WPSL Championships semifinal in 2025. St. Croix appears in the Central Region Playoffs as a Wildcard team after finishing second in the Northern Conference table with 14 points, concluding its eight-match conference schedule 4-2-2.
Sydney Sutherland, a sophomore at Bemidji State University, led St. Croix in scoring with four of the 14 goals the side scored on the season, followed by Minnesota State University junior Amara Smith with three. St Croix’s backline was led by defenders Emily Hinze, Bemidji State junior Grace Schwoch, and University of Wisconsin Green Bay senior, Nell Smith. Sydney Potter, a senior at Concordia University made six appearances in goal for St. Croix, earning two of the three side’s clean sheets, posting a 1.0 goal against average. Eleni McGuire, a sophomore at the University of Rochester, made two appearances in goal for St. Croix, posting one shutout.
St. Croix looks to build on its 2025 postseason run—its first and only since joining the WPSL in 2023—advancing to the WPSL Championships. To get there, St. Croix topped FC Milwaukee Torrent in penalty kicks in the North Lakes Conference championship match to earn a berth in the Central Region Playoffs. A 3-1 semifinal win over Union KC put St. Croix into the Central Region final, where it upset a highly regarded Oklahoma City FC side 2-1 to advance to the WPSL Championships, falling to eventual champion Sporting CT 4-1 in the national semifinal match.
Austin Rise FC returns to postseason play for a third consecutive season after a dramatic Lone Star Conference campaign that saw the Austin-based club clinch the conference title in the final match of the season, finishing 6-1-1, two points clear of FC Dallas Women.
Katie Gernsbacher led the side and was tied with two other players from different teams for the conference Golden Boot award. Emma Torres, who is entering her sophomore year at Texas Tech University, followed with three goals on the season. Austin saw 12 different players tally over the course of eight fixtures for a total of 23 goals on the season, second best in the conference.
Anchored by center backs Lauren Westwood, a senior at the University of Wyoming, and Emelly Chicas Cabrera, a senior at Fairmont State University and Honduran international, Austin’s defense which allowed a conference-low five goals. Mississippi State University incoming freshman and U.S. Youth National Team goalkeeper Liesel Tetemeyer made seven starts for Austin, earning three clean of the side’s four sheets and a 0.71 goal against average.
After joining the league in 2023, Austin made its first postseason appearance a season later, advancing to the South Region Final, losing to eventual WPSL champions Charlotte Eagles. In 2025, Austin fell in the Central Region Playoffs Semifinal 3-0 to Oklahoma City FC.
Kansas City Current II returned to competitive WPSL play this season going 7-2-1 to win its second Heartland Division title, finishing three points clear at the top of the table to advance to the Midwest Conference Final in St. Louis versus Lou Fusz Athletic. The NWSL side’s second team rolled over the Gateway Division winners 4-1 behind goals by academy players Bridget Kopmeyer, academy players Chloe Guenther, Syenna Haynesworth, and Tori Vassor.
Kansas City Current II is led by division and conference Golden Boot winner, Avery Clark, who has 12 of the club’s 40 goals on the season. Clark finished in second in the WPSL Golden Boot race, seven goals behind Pensacola FC’s Faith Johnston. Behind the defensive play Itala Gemelli, who earned Week Three Central Region Defensive Player of the Week honors, and the goalkeeping corps of Kaylin Williams-Mosier, Evelyn Vitali, and Olivia Herrera allowed a division-low seven goals. Williams-Mosier, who joined Current II from KFF Vllaznia in Albania, earned three shutouts in five starts, posting a 0.4 goal against average. Vitali made four starts, picking up one shutout, and Herrera, a senior at Arizona State University, made two starts.
This is Kansas City Current II’s second WPSL postseason appearance. In 2022, the club’s only previous full WPSL season, Current II advanced to the Central Region Playoffs Final where it lost to the Colorado Rapids Women.
