Soccer Preview: Blue Devils open season in Moorhead, Minn.

Live Stats: vs. St. Scholastica | at Concordia-Moorhead

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (0-0-0. 0-0-0 WIAC) open the season by playing a pair of games in Moorhead, Minn., opening the season by playing the College of St. Scholastica (0-0-0, 0-0-0 UMAC), Friday, Sept. 2 at 5 p.m., then playing host Concordia College (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) Saturday, Sept. 3 at 4 p.m. Stout was picked to finish sixth in the WIAC, according to a preseason poll conducted by league coaches and sports information directors.

ON-LINE: All Blue Devil home soccer games will be available by Live Stats, network willing.

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: UW-Stout finished last season at 8-8-3 overall, 2-4-1 in league play, finishing as the sixth seed for the WIAC Tournament. The Blue Devils traveled to third seeded UW-Whitewater, dropping the contest, 4-0. and ending their season. | Complete Story and Stats

A LOOK AT UW-STOUT: UW-Stout lost nearly 60 percent of their points from last year, the vast majority of it through graduation. The Blue Devils graduated nine seniors from last year's squad, and lost a few more through attrition. After a senior-heavy season, the scale tilts the other way this year with only two seniors – forward Sarah Todey (Sr, Maple Grove, Minn) and midfielder/forward Kelly Conn (Sr, Menasha). The seniors will be joined by seven juniors and five sophomores. Freshmen will fill out the rest of the roster. Both Todey and Conn are capable of scoring goals in big-time situations. Todey, a third generation Blue Devil, scored two goals last season, including the game winner late in a 1-0 overtime contest against St. Scholastica. Conn has simply been a motor involved in the Blue Devils' attack since she arrived as a freshman. Conn, a team captain along with Todey and junior Taylor Poss, last season scored a pair of goals and an assist. For her career, Conn has eight goals and eight assists. Sydney Kasper should continue to be effective in the Blue Devils' attack from the wing. Last season as a freshman, Kasper tied for the team lead in goals with five and dished off two assists.The junior class will have a strong influence on the direction of this team, Raufus said.The junior class includes defenders Poss, Jessica Ingle, Nikki Sedivy and Haley Wentz along with midfielders Camille Fawcett, Bethany Hanson and Kelli Elmer.  The sophomore class consists of forwards Kasper and Sierra Suchla; defenders Melissa Rice and Bethany Hennen; and midfielder Sami Stark. Ingle and Sedivy both started all 19 games in the back row, and Sedivy earned WIAC defensive player of the week laurels last season. Wentz, who battled injuries early and late in the season, started the 12 games she played and also earned WIAC defensive player of the week honors. | 2015 Stats

IN THE GOAL: Graduation took the Blue Devils' starting goalie from the last three seasons, all-WIAC selection Paige Meyer, as well as the Blue Devils' back-up goalie. But Meyer returns in the coaching box and will work with talented freshmen goalies Abby Kirsch and Lynn Johnson.


A LOOK AT ST. SCHOLASTICA: The Saints won the UMAC Tournament Championship, downing top-seeded University of Northwestern, 2-0, to advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament where they lost to Wartburg College, 1-0. The Saints have won eight of the last nine UMAC Tournament titles. The Saints return their leading scorer from last season, sophomore Becca Rancour, who scored 18 goals and four assists. The Saints will be looking to replace goalie Kelsey Reeves, who graduated after posting a 0.78 goals against average. | 2015 Stats

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND ST. SCHOLASTICA MET: Sarah Todey scored the only goal of the game in overtime, lifting the Blue Devils to a 1-0 win in Menomonie last September. | Story and Stats


A LOOK AT CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD: The Cobbers last season advanced to the MIAC Tournament after a sixth place league finish, a feat they are accustomed to. Concordia has advanced to the MIAC show for 13 straight seasons. The Cobbers are led by honorable mention forward Paige McCullough, who tied for the lead in assists in conference games only. The Cobbers were 12-8 overall, 6-5 in league play. Concordia won their tournament-opening game, 1-0 over Macalester, but bowed out 2-0 to tournament upstart Gustavus Adolphus, which went on to win the tournament | 2015 Stats

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD MET: The Blue Devils and the Cobbers have met only three times, with Concordia taking all contests in shutout fashion. Concordia shredded Stout, 7-0, at Nelson Field in 2010, blanked them 3-0 in 2007 and kept the slate clean with a 5-0 win in the team's first meeting in 1999. | Story and Stats


AWARDS:    2015: Megan Collins was named CoSIDA Academic All-District VI. Collins is an Applied Math and Computer Science major and has a GPA of 3.89...Sarah Todey was the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual athlete of the week after a two goal week, including the game winner in double overtime against St. Scholastica...Nikky Sedivy earned WIAC defensive player of the week honors after the opening week of the season as Stout allowed only one goal in two overtime ties...Addy Maher was the Blue Devils offensive player of the week and Nikki Sedivy was the defensive player of the week after the first week of the season.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Blue Devil team captains for the 2016 season are Taylor Poss, Sarah Todey and Kelly Conn.

UW-STOUT COACH RYAN RAUFUS: Coach Ryan Raufus (38-42-11) is in his sixth 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. (has been updated)

QUICK HITS: The Blue Devils posted five shutouts last year, but were kept off the scoreboard 11 times. Stout had two offensive breakouts, a 6-0 conference win over UW-Superior and a 6-2 non-conference win over Gustavus Adolphus. The Blue Devils were in the middle of the conference pack in just about every offensive and defensive statistical category.

TWENTY YEARS OF BLUE DEVIL SOCCER: After many years as a club sport, UW-Stout became the ninth WIAC team to join the varsity ranks during the 1995 season. The Blue Devils took their lumps to open the season, making their premiere by hosting Augsburg College, Sept. 10, in a 7-0 loss. Stout opened the conference season three days later at Nelson Field, hosting perennial conference powerhouse UW-Stevens Point, dropping a 6-0 decision. The Blue Devils finally broke onto the scoreboard in their third game. While hosting UW-Platteville, Sept. 17, Kari Stapleton scored in the 70th minute on an assist from Jenny Tyson in a 2-1 loss. The Blue Devils would get their first-ever win, a 3-0 decision at Martin Luther College, Sept. 23, collecting goals from Amie Frasier, Tyson and Joann Sognesand. Defender Andrea Schroeder was a second team all-conference selection in 1995, then was selected to the first team in 1996. Members of that first 1995 team include: April Amys, Beeta Bastani, Tammy Beuch, Carrie Blaska, Jen Chapple, Michelle Coon, Amie Frasier, Aimee Grimm, Jamie Jester, Julie Kremer, Dorian Loberg, Amy Lyons, Kristin Manion, Anglea McDowell, Andrea Schroeder, Joann Sognesand, Kari Stapleton, Jenny Tyson, Alisa Zimmerman. Lisa Petruccelli was the Blue Devils first coach, leading the team from 1995-98, followed by Dave Morris (1999-2005), Meagan Frank (2006-10) and Ryan Raufus (2011-present). | 1995 Statistics

DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils will open a four game homestand when they host Hamline University, Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Stout will host the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m., Benedictine University, Saturday, Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. and UW-Superior, Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.