MILWAUKEE – River Falls’ one-player advantage turned out to be no edge at all. Top-seeded Pewaukee snapped a 1-all tie with a pair of short-handed goals in the final 10 minutes for a 3-1 victory over the Wildcats on Friday in the Division 2 semifinals of the Wisconsin girls state high school soccer tournament. River Falls, the No .4 seed, led 1-0 at the half on a goal by Olivia Doerre, who rebounded her own penalty kick and punched it in lower right for her 20th goal of the season. Pewaukee drew even just 27 seconds into the second half on an unassisted goal by Hannah Sorkness. The Pirates, whose eight losses were the misleading result of a rugged non-conference schedule, dominated much of the second half and missed several scoring opportunities. “I think the momentum definitely shifted to them,” Doerre said. “But, I’m a competitor. I really thought we could have come back. A couple times I think we could have taken it, but they just came out on top. They’re a really good team.” With just under 12 minutes remaining, Pewaukee’s Alex Burkemper was sent off with a red card, seeming to provide the Wildcats with an opportunity to notch their first state tournament victory. “You look at the first two or three minutes, and we had a couple chances,” River Falls coach Charles Conley said. “I thought, OK, this may play in our favor and it’s just going to wear them out more. I really did think we’d get to overtime at that point.” But at 71:57 on the clock, Pewaukee’s Ella Opie lofted a free kick from 30 yards out just over the outstretched arms of goalie Neva Espanet and under the crossbar to put the Pirates up 2-1. Four minutes later, Pewaukee’s Elli Bennett gathered in a centering pass from the right side and found the back of the net to make it 3-1. “Give a lot of credit to Pewaukee,” Conley said. “I think they were a better team. We played hard for 75 minutes, or whatever it was, but when they lost a player … it kind of lit a fire under them and gave them the extra spark that they needed.” Pewaukee, ranked fifth in Division 2 in the final state coaches poll, outshot the Wildcats 17-6, including 12-4 in the second half. River Falls missed several early opportunities, including a 4-1 edge in corner kicks in the first half. Pewaukee coach Sean Sullivan said being down a player actually seemed to benefit his team. “She’s one of our best players. She holds down the middle of our field. It was a huge loss,” Sullivan said. “We just had to be focused. We changed the formation a little bit to get a little more defensive-minded, but that opened our wings … and with one less player, that actually made it a little easier.” River Falls (13-7-2), the third-place finisher in the Big River Conference and ranked No. 7 in Division 2, dropped to 0-4 in four state tournament appearances. “I think they outplayed us in many facets, but we hung on as long as we could,” Conley said. “But I think it was just a matter of time before they got that second one.” The Wildcats lost in the Division 2 semifinals last season, 3-0, to eventual champion Oregon. River Falls also lost their opener in Division 2 in 2018 and Division 1 in 2011. Pewaukee (13-8) advanced to Saturday’s title game against the winner of Brookfield Central and Sauk Prairie.