Soccer Preview: Stout at River Falls Wednesday, Pointers here Saturday

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (3-4-2, 0-0-1 WIAC) will be UW-River Falls (3-6-1, 0-0-1 WIAC), Wednesday, Oct. 4 for a 4 p.m. contest, then return home to host UW-Stevens Point (6-4-0, 0-1-0 WIAC) Saturday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. in a Playing for a Cause game with the Pointers. The Blue Devils will raise money in support of Multiple Sclerosis research. The River Falls and Stevens Point games are in the midst of a five-game streak against conference opponents.

ON-LINE: All Blue Devil home soccer games will be available by Live Stats, and by Live Video, network willing. There have been issues on the field in the past, but hopefully that has been rectified.


BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT:  The Blue Devils defeated Hamline University, 3-2, Sept. 26, then tied with 12th ranked UW-Whitewater, Sept. 30, 1-1. Sydney Kasper scored two goal, including the game-winner, in a 3-2 win over the Pipers. Lynn Johnson returned after injury to record 16 saves as the Blue Devils tied 12th ranked UW-Whitewater, 1-1, Sept. 30. | Hamline Story and Stats | UW-Whitewater Story and Stats |

A LOOK AT UW-STOUT: The Blue Devils have weathered losing both rostered goalies - Lynn Johnson and Rachel Nowak - to injury over the last couple of weeks. Bethany Hennen was called on to step in goal and she posted a 2-0-0 record with wins over Viterbo and Hamline universities. Johnson returned against 12th-ranked UW-Whitewater, Sept. 30, and played a solid game, stopping 16 shots and earning WIAC defensive player of the week honors for the 1-1 tie. Johnson is currently 1-3-1 with a a saves percentage of .800 and a GAA of 1.78. Nowak, who has appeared in four games, has a 0-1-1 record with a team-best GAA of 0.95 and a saves percentage of .800. Hennen in her role as the emergency goalie has a 2-0-0 record with a GAA of 1.12 and a saves percentage of .818.  Sydney Kasper scored two goals in a 3-2 win over Hamline last week and was selected as the WIAC offensive player of the week. The two-goal effort was the third time in her career she has scored two goals in a single game. Freshman Kaitlyn Hess has three goals and two assists. Ryanne Millis has pushed in a goal and leads the team in assists with five, second in the WIAC. Bethany Hanson and Sarah Dickmann each have two goals, with Dickman's goals coming on penalty kicks. Bella Pedlar, Nikki Sedivy and Hennen each have a goal.  The Blue Devils have gotten goals from eight different players. As a team, the Blue Devils have scored 15 goals and have allowed 14 goals.    2016:  Kasper was the team's leading scorer last season with nine goals and three assists for 21 points which earned her first team all-WIAC honors. Johnson started all 19 games in goal last season, while earning first team all-WIAC honors. She led the conference in saves with 98, fifth in GAA (1.32), sixth in save percentage (.797) and recorded four shutouts on her own. Ryanne Millis was the team's second-leading scorer, with four goals and three assists. Hannah Kirchner popped in three goals and Sarah Dickmann finished with three assists. Bella Pedlar scored her first collegiate goal last season. | Statistics


A LOOK AT UW-RIVER FALLS: The Falcons are led by Abby Soderholm, who has three goals and a league-best seven assists. Maggie Koehler and Kayla Windingstad have each scored three goals. Haley Crosby and Amanda LaDue have split time in the net. Crosby has played in six games with a 0-4-1 record, 41 saves, an .891 saves percentage and a GAA of 0.98. LaDue is 2-2-0 with a GAA of 1.42 over five games.  The Falcons posted a 1-1 tie with UW-Oshkosh to open the 2017 WIAC season. The Falcons got on the board first at 1:48 when Maggie Koehler snuck one in past the Titan keeper on a pass from Erika Lagoon. The Falcons outshot the Titans in the first half 7-5.  In the second half the Titans tied it up 1-1 at 49:26 when Addie Schmitz found the top 90.  |  Statistics  | UW-Oshkosh Story and Stats

THE LAST TIME RIVER FALLS AND STOUT MET: UW-Stout had ample opportunities but could not convert on those opportunities and UW-River Falls took advantage of the few opportunities they had to defeat the Blue Devils, 2-0, Oct. 5, 2016, at Nelson Field. The Blue Devils held a 16-11 advantage in total shots and put 75 percent of those shots on frame, but could not break the plane of the net. Stout put 12 shots on net compared to six for the Falcons. | Story and Stats

THE SERIES: Stout and River Falls are tied in their series 9-9-6.


A LOOK AT UW-STEVENS POINT: Francesca Hamilton leads both the Pointers and the league in point and is tied for the league lead in goals. Hamilton has eight goals and two assists for 18 points. Maddy Hardyman has five goals and four assists. Gracie Wendels and Amanda Maestas each have four goals and Meghan Ambelang have three goals. The Pointers have outscored their opponents, 31-8. Sarah Peplinski has worked 10 games in net, with a 5-4-0 record, a GAA of 0.84 and a saves percentage of .846.   | Statistics

STEVENS POINT LAST TIME OUT: Stevens Point conceded two first-half goals and dropped the conference-opener at UW-La Crosse (7-1-2, 1-0-0) on Sept. 30. The Eagles took the early lead in the seventh minute of play on an unassisted goal.  UWL doubled its lead in the 38th minute to take a 2-0 lead into the break. UWL added a third goal in the 51st minute to complete the scoring in the match. The Pointers are scheduled to step out of conference play when they host Augustana College, Oct. 4.  | Story and Stats

THE LAST TIME STEVENS POINT AND STOUT MET: Kelly Conn scored a goal and added an assist as UW-Stout snapped a four-game skid and picked up their first conference win of the season with a 2-0 shutout at UW-Stevens Point Oct. 8, 2016. Conn scored, with an assist on a cross by Bethany Hennan, 20 minutes into the first half, then assisted on freshman Ryanne Millis' goal 10 minutes into the second half. The shutout was Stout's fourth of the season. | Story and Stats

THE SERIES: Stevens Point leads the series at 18-5-0. The Blue Devils have won the last four meetings.




BLUE DEVIL ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Offense: Sydney Kasper, Jr, Owatonna, Minn...Defense: Lynn Johnson, So, Shakopee, Minn.

AWARDS: 2017: Sydney Kasper scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 3-2 win over Hamline University, Sept. 26, and was named the WIAC offensive player of the week...Lynn Johnson was selected as the WIAC defensive player of the week after making 16 saves in a 1-1 tie with 12th ranked UW-Whitewater, Sept. 30...Kaitlyn Hess was selected as the WIAC offensive player of the week after scoring two goals - including the game winner against Viterbo in a 1-0 win Sept. 23 - in a week that Stout went 1-1-1...Sydney Kasper was selected as the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week after scoring a goal and assist in a 4-0 win over UW-Superior, Sept. 13.


TEAM CAPTAINS: Blue Devil team captains for the 2017 season are Taylor Poss, Jessica Ingle and Sydney Kasper.

UW-STOUT COACH RYAN RAUFUS: Coach Ryan Raufus (47-57-15) is in his seventh 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: Bethany Hennen played for the first time in goal in competitive soccer when she donned the goalie shirt for the Viterbo University game, Sept. 23. Hennen was credited with three saves and came on in about the 20th minute. Hennen started three days later against Hamline University and picked up the 3-2 win...The Blue Devils posted six shutouts in 2016, but were kept off the scoreboard six times. This season, the Blue Devils were shutout in the opener and have shut out UW-Superior and Viterbo University.

TWENTY-TWO 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 be at UW-La Crosse, Wednesday, Oct. 11 for a 7 p.m. contest, then return home to host UW-Oshkosh, Saturday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m.