32 teams, men’s and women’s, convened at four regional sites Saturday and Sunday to try and play their way into the Midwest semifinals.

On the men’s side, all ranked teams advanced. Top-ranked UW-Whitewater, defending national champ, was dominant in the rounds of 16 and 8 in Urbana, Ill. The Warhawks waxed Loyola 124-10 Saturday and St. Cloud 41-0 Sunday. The Minnesota champs beat Southern Illinois 31-0 to reach the quarterfinals.

No. 8 Northern Illinois was also impressive on the weekend, crushing Grand Valley State 36-8 Saturday and Central Michigan 50-15. Given that GVSU was the third seed out of Michigan and Central the Michigan champ, it would seem the Huskies grew stronger overnight.

Awaiting the Huskies in one semifinal are the Bobcats of Ohio, who won a pair of close games – 13-12 over Pittsburgh on Saturday and 22-10 over West Virginia on Sunday – in Allendale, Mich.

Pairing off with Whitewater in the other semifinal is 16^th-ranked UW-Milwaukee, who finished second to the Warhawks in LAU play. Whitewater defeated Milwaukee 39-7 in the regular season. It was, however, Milwaukee’s only loss and a one-score game at halftime, giving Whitewater what was likely its toughest test since the 2011 national championship game. Milwaukee beat Illinois State 39-17 Saturday and North Dakota State 26-22 Sunday.

On the women’s side, 2011 semifinalist Winona State and defending Midwest champ UW-Lacrosse return to the final four.

Winona does so with a 22-17 win over UW-Eau Claire in the Round of 16 and a 33-0 defeat of Minnesota-Mankato in the Rochester, Minn. quarterfinal. Winona will meet Grand Valley State in the semis after GVSU pounded Ball Stat 92-0 on Saturday and slipped past Slippery Rock 10-5 Sunday in Allendale, Mich.

UW-La Crosse didn’t concede a single point on the weekend, beating Northern Illinois 17-0 and Illinois State 73-0 in Urbana, Ill. Pittsburgh now faces the unsavoury task of trying to knock off the champs in the other semifinal. If their ability to score is in question, consider the 46-0 drubbing they delivered to Bowling Green Saturday and the 33-5 win over IUP Sunday in Trafford, Pa.

Sunday scores
Men
N. Illinois 50-15 C. Michigan
Whitewater 41-0 St. Cloud
Milwaukee 26-22 N. Dakota St.
Ohio 22-10 W. Virginia
Women
GVSU 10-5 Slippery Rock
Pitt 33-5 IUP
Winona St. 33-0 Mankato
UW-Lacrosse 73-0 Illinois St.

Saturday scores
Men
St. Cloud 31-0 So. Illinois
Northern Illinois 29-8 GVSU
Cent. Mich. 30-15 Xavier
UW-Whitewater 124-10 Loyola
North Dakota 35-17 Platteville
Milwaukee 39-17 Illinois State
Ohio 13-12 Pitt
West Virginia 24-5 Michigan
Women
Mankato 30-12 Platteville
Winona 22-17 Eau Claire
GVSU 92-0 Ball State
Slippery Rock 35-14 Loyola
IUP 22-10 Denison
Pitt 46-0 Bowling Green
Illinois St. 19-17 St. Benedict
La Crosse 17-0 N. Illinois