Soccer Preview: Stout to play afternoon matinee at Bethel Tuesday

Bethel Live Stats and Live Video | Concordia Multimedia | MSOE Multimedia

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devil (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) will be at Bethel University (0-1-2), Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m. then make a swing through the Milwaukee area when they travel to Concordia University (1-2-0), Saturday, Sept. 13, at 3p.m. and at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (2-1-0), Sunday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m..

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT:  The Blue Devils' were blanked 2-0 by the College of St.Benedict, Sept. 7. The Blue Devils missed on a couple of key opportunities, including a penalty kick early in the game, and two opportunities late after falling behind, 2-0. The Blazers scored in the 38th minute and again in the 73rd minute.. | Compete Story and Stats

A LOOK AT UW-STOUT:  It is still early in the season and the sisters Kizlik have the Blue Devils' only points after two games. Lauren scored twice against St. Mary's and Jenna had an assist in that game. Paige Meyer has a goals against average of 1.00. The Blue Devils return four of their six top scorers from last year. For the first time in nearly a decade, Stout landed four players on the All-WIAC team – and three of those players return, including midfielder Jenna Kizlik (Jr, Hammond), goalkeeper Paige Meyer (Jr, River Falls) and forward Lauren Kizlik (So, Hammond). The Kizlik sisters were among the team's leaders in scoring. Lauren was second on the team with five goals and one assist for 11 points, ranking in the top 10 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in scoring. Jenna, who missed nine games, finished with a pair of goals and a pair of assists. Meyer alternated in goal early during the season, but when the calendar turned to October she began to grab the majority of starts, including six during conference play. Meyer finished the year at 5-5-1, posting a goals against average of 1.19 and a saves percentage of .851. In WIAC games only, Meyer was 3-2-0, but dropped her GAA to 0.76. Stout is picked to finish fourth in the WIAC, according to a WIAC preseason poll. | Season Preview |  2013 Stats

A LOOK AT BETHEL UNIVERSITY: The Royals are looking for the first win of the season, but with two ties, all of their games have been close. Bethel opened with a 1-1 tie with North Central College, then lost, 1-0, to Elmhurst College. In their last outing, almost a week ago, Bethel tied 3-3 with UW-Eau Claire. Savannah Swanson and Jessica Huseby each have a goal and an assist. Sarah Wagman has two assists. Micale Jensen has worked all of the minutes so far, posting a GAA of 1.66. | 2014 Stats | 2013 Stats

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND BETHEL MET: Alix Hyduke scored a pair of goals and the Stout defenise dug in to give the Blue Devils a 2-1 win in Menomonie last September.. | Story and Stats

AWARDS:  Paige Meyer, Jenna Kizlik, Lauren Kizlik and now assistant coach Emily Ferger were selected to the All-WIAC team, onlly the second time Stout has placed four players on the squad.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Blue Devil team captains for the 2014 season are Sarah Ulrich, Vanessa Wrobel and Jenna Kizlik.

UW-STOUT COACH RYAN RAUFUS: Coach Ryan Raufus (256-25-5) is in his fourth year as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Raufus played his college ball at Springfield College in Massachusetts and came to Stout after coaching at La Crosse Logan High School and La Crescent, Minn., High School.

QUICK HITS:  The Blue Devils overcame a slow start last season. Hampered by early season injuries, Stout won two of their first 10 games, but won six of their final nine games.

DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils will be at Viterbo University, Wednesday, Sept. 17, and will open the WIAC schedule when they host UW-Platteville, Saturday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m.