Soccer Preview: Game w/Hamline moved to Chippewa Falls

Tonight's game with Hamline University has been moved to the Chippewa Falls High School field. The large amount of rain in the Menomonie area over the past few days has made Nelson Field unplayable at this time. Game time is still 7:30 p.m.

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (0-1-1, 0-0-0 WIAC) will play a four-game homestand starting with Hamline University (2-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAC), Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m., followed by two NACC opponents, MSOE (2-0-0, 0-0-0 NACC) Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. and, Benedictine University (0-2-0, 0-0-0 NACC), Saturday, Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. The Blue Devils will host former WIAC opponent UW-Superior (0-1-0, 0-0-0 UMAC), Tuesday, Sept. 13.  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: Stout opened the season with a 2-1 double overtime loss to St. Scholastica, in Moorhead, Minn., Sept. 2, then freshman goalie Lynn Johnson pitched her first collegiate shutout, a 0-0 tie with host Concordia-Moorhead. UW-Stout saw two first half close-up opportunities go by the wayside and the Blue Devils had to settle for a scoreless tie with Concordia-Moorhead Saturday. The Blue Devils (0-1-1) had two first half chances within the six yard box, but came away empty. In a game that did not feature many real opportunities, Stout freshman goalkeeper Lynn Johnson notched her first collegiate shutout, making three saves. Her counterpart, Maddy Reed, had four saves. The Cobbers did outshoot Stout, 17-8. Sydney Kasper and Jessica Ingle were selected to the all-tournament team.

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. 

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 HAMLINE: The Pipers are off to a good start, following a 10-1 win over UW-Superior in the opener, then took a 2-0 win over Minnesoty-Morris.  The Pipers have 17 newcomers to go along with eight returners as Hamline looks to rebound from a 5-11-1 campaign in 2015. That mark snapped a string of four consecutive seasons where the Pipers had finished at .500 or over.  Up front, Arendje Louter, who led the Pipers with six goals in her freshman season, returns. So does senior Alicia Williams, who nailed four in 2015. Malya Hirshkowitz, also a senior, is a consistent scoring threat who also controls the middle of the field.   A return to good health by Anna Futterer (held down to just one game last year due to injury after scoring four times as a freshman) would be a welcome bonus. The defense is even heavier with veterans. Seniors Mackenzie Zink and Grace Nichols and junior Mallory Wirth are stalwarts who have missed a total of six games between them in their career her.  Nichols is a converted who can slide up front if the situation warrants.  Amy Ramras, a senior who is the school record holder for shutouts in a career, returns in goal. Tess Salen, a freshman, is the other netminder.

HAMLINE THE LAST TIME OUT: The Pipers outshot Morris by a hefty 32-3 margin, but had to settle for two goals to hit the back of the net in a 2-0 win at Morris, Minn, Sept. 3. Malya Hirshkowitz and Anna Futterer each scored in the first half and goalkeeper Amy Ramras recorded her 12th career shutout.  In the season opener against UW-Superior, Sept. 1, freshman Siri Parker entered collegiate athletics with a bang, scoring three goals and adding an assist in a 10-1 win over the Yellowjackets.

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND HAMLINE MET: Hamline University scored two goals in the first 30 minutes of the contest and went on to hand UW-Stout a 2-0 loss at Paterson Field Oct. 6, 2015, in a non-conference contest. The Pipers' Arandje Louter scored in the 19th minute and Aubrey Stenson scored in the 27th minute. The Blue Devils put three shots on net, but couldn't find the back of the net. The Pipers put seven shots on net and Stout's Paige Meyer recorded five saves. The teams are deadlocked in the series at 5-5-1. 


A LOOK AT THE MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING (MSOE): The MSOE women's soccer team returns nine starters from the most successful season in school history. MSOE won a school-record 15 games last season, culminating in a thrilling NACC Tournament Championship and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. On the strength of that, the league coaches picked the Red & White to finish second in the NACC preseason poll, with seven first-place votes. Heading the lengthy list of returning starters is senior Sara Travia, a three-time All-NACC First-Team selection, and a two-time all-region selection. She got off to a slow start last season, but finished hot with 18 goals, eight assists and 44 points. Each of those figures led the team and was among the league's elite. In just three seasons, Travia's emerged as one of the most dangerous offensive players in school history. Her last goal of the 2015 season was the 50th of her career and pushed her career point tally to 122,  third in school history. Junior Mary McFee will benefit from the experience in front of her as she returns for her third season as the primary keeper. She made 17 starts last season and posted a .752 save percentage in just under 1,400 minutes with an 11-3 record and one shutout.

MSOE THE LAST TIME OUT:  The Raiders won the St. Mary's, Ind, College Invitational by defeating Kalamazoo, 3-1, and host St. Mary's, 1-0. Junior Kassidy Girmscheid scored the game's lone goal in the 52nd minute in the win over St. Mary's. Junior Kelsey Hailey scored a goal and assisted on another as the MSOE women's soccer team opened the 2016 season with a comeback 3-1 victory over Kalamazoo, scoring all three goals in the second half. Carley Mitus and Caitlin Liddiard added goals. The Raiders are scheduled to host St. Norbert, Wednesday, Sept. 7.

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND MSOE MET: UW-Stout's Jenna Kizlik scored the first goal of the game, but the Milwaukee School of Engineering tied the score about 10 minutes later and the rest of the game was scoreless as the two teams played to a 1-1 tie Sept. 14, 2014. Kizlik scored her first goal of the season in the 19th minute of the game, getting an assist by Emma DeRubies . The Raiders' Natalie Gayner engineered a goal in the 29th minute. MSOE outshot Stout, 17-10, in regulation. Stout (1-2-2) got off three shots in the first overtime, two on target, and MSOE (3-1-1) got two shots off in the second overtime, neither on target. Stout's Paige Meyer finished with six saves, while MSOE's Sydney Stephens had five saves. Stout holds a 2-0-1 lead in the series. 


A LOOK AT BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY:  Coming off an appearance in the NACC Tournament for the first time since 2007, Benedictine was picked to finish fifth in the NACC. Benedictine posted a 6-4 mark in conference play last season and tallied an overall mark of 9-9-1. All-conference picks Lea GIndville and Taylor Pokorny return.

BENEDICTINE THE LAST TIME OUT:  Benedictine opened the season by hosting two 2015 NCAA qualifiers, Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll University, falling to both, 4-1, and 1-0 in overtime, respectively. The Eagles will host Rockford College, Tuesday, Sept. 6 and travel to St. Mary's, Minn., Universty, Friday, Sept. 9, before coming to Menomonie, Sept. 10.

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND BENEDICTINE MET: This will be the first meeting between Stout and Benedictine University.  | Story and Stats


AWARDS: Sydney Kasper and Jessica Ingle were selected to the Concordia-Moorhead all-tournament team, Sept. 4...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 (38-43-12) 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 six shutouts last year, but were kept off the scoreboard six times.

TWENTY-ONE 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).

DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils will host UW-Superior, Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. before taking a week off.