Soccer Preview: Time change as Stout opens four-game homestand

Live Stats | Live Video | WIAC Weekly Soccer Notes | Game Day Program

STOUT VS HAMLINE: Due to impending weather conditions, the time for the Hamline at Stout hame has been moved up to a 5:15 pm start at Nelson Field.

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (0-0-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) open the season with a four-game home stand and will play seven of their first 10 games at Nelson Field. Stout opens the year with a pair of games over Labor Day weekend, starting with Hamline University (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) Friday, Aug. 31 at 5:15 pm and St. Catherine University (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) Saturday, Sept. 1 at 7 pm.

After losing nine starters, to say the Blue Devils will be a different looking team may be a bit of an understatement. The Blue Devils do return two-time All-WIAC pick Sydney Kasper. With 20 career goals, Kasper is currently ranked seventh on the Blue Devil all-time goal scoring list. Kasper last season scored six goals and five assists.

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.

PARKING: Parking on the UW-Stout campus is restricted during the business week. For games at Nelson Field during the week, please plan to park in Lot 29. Do not park in Lot 4, which is a reserved lot for students that live in the residence halls.

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils advanced to the WIAC tournament, knocking off UW-Stevens Point, 2-1, in overtime before falling 3-0 to eventual conference champion UW-La Crosse in the semi-finals. Hannah Kirchner scored in the 103rd minute to give UW-Stout a 2-1 win over UW-Stevens Point in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Soccer Championship quarterfinal game. With the score at 1-1 apiece in the second overtime, Kirchner took a pass, temporarily lost the touch, regained the ball, spun full circle and fired a long looping shot that hit the opposite corner of the net for the game winner. The goal was Kirchner's first goal of the season. Stout opened up the game with an unassisted goal by Kaitlyn Hess in the seventh minute. The Pointers tied the game on a goal from Kenadie Cain in the 42nd minute. Top-seeded and 15th-ranked UW-La Crosse recorded three goals within an 18-minute game time span to down UW-Stout, 3-0, in a semi-final WIAC Soccer Championship game. | UW-Stevens Point Story and Stats | UW-La Crosse Story and Stats

A LOOK AT UW-STOUT: Coming off a third place finish and a fourth seed into the WIAC tournament, the Blue Devils finished 2017 at 9-6-5 overall and 3-1-3 in the WIAC. The Blue Devils lost nine starters from last year's squad. Two-time all-WIAC selection and all-region pick Sydney Kasper leads the way for the Blue Devils after scoring six goals and five assists. Kasper, a team captain, currently has 20 career goals, tying her for seventh on the UW-Stout all-time list. Her 50 career points ranks her 11th on the Stout list and her 10 career assists is tied for 17th. Sarah Dickmann scored three goals last season and Hannah Kirchner had a goal and three assists. Bella Pedlar scored her first career goal last season. The Blue Devils will need to replace their entire starting defense. Senior captain Melissa Rice returns to defense. | 2018 Season Preview  | Statistics


A LOOK AT HAMLINE UNIVERSITY: Second year head coach Emily Cripe welcomed back three returning goalies (Kat Armstrong, who led the MIAC with 99 saves as well as a now healthy Dani Wright and Melanie Hopkins, who had a shutout among her three efforts) and a talented freshman in Lauren Secora to keep opposing strikers at bay. 

The 2018 Pipers are short on seniors with just three but heavy on juniors (nine) and sophomores (eight) -- many of whom have game experience. For example, in the midfield there is Grace Trocinske, who made the MIAC Honorable Mention squad as a freshman last year,;Jenna Sampson, a junior who will also serve as a co-captain this fall, had seven points in 18 games last season and Madison Putnam, a senior with 44 games experience. Jensen Sevening, who played 34 games over two seasons in the midfield but sat out last year, is back for her senior season this fall. 

A veteran back wall will lead the way early as the Hamline women's soccer team opens its second season under head coach Emily Cripe. All three goaltenders plus four defensive regulars return for the Pipers, whose run for a playoff spot in 2017 fell just short en route to an 8-8-2 overall record. Ellie Baxter has played both there and at defense. If she is opted for the latter, she will likely work with  Brenna Dolney, a sophomore, and junior Ali Eastman (a co-captain for 2018), both of whom also played the entire schedule in 2017. Also returning: Kimberley Hatlestad, a senior with 22 games experience. 

On offense, Ashlee Olson is the top returning scorer up front. The Eyota, Minn. native found the net five times in 2017 and had the highest shots on goal percentage of any HU regular last year (.737). She will get help sharing the offensive load from Ciara Gregory, a junior transfer who was an All-Conference player at Augsburg..  | Season Statistics

THE LAST TIME HAMLINE AND STOUT MET:  Sydney Kasper scored two goals including the game winner with 15 minutes remaining and Bethany Hennen recorded her second win in goal as UW-Stout defeated Hamline University, 3-2, Sept. 26, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn.  Kasper scored her fourth goal of the season, scoring unassisted in the 76th minute to give Stout (3-4-1) the win, their second consecutive win, and their second consecutive game with Hennen in goal. The Blue Devil defense did not allow a shot the rest of the way. | Story and Stats

THE SERIES: The two teams are knotted up with a 6-6-1 record against each other. Over the last five meetings, the Pipers hold a 3-1-1 advantage. 


A LOOK AT ST.  CATHERINE: The 2017 season proved to be the best in program history for the St. Catherine University soccer as the team went 9-7-4 overall. The Wildcats won their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoff Title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. History had its eye on the St. Catherine University soccer team during the 2017 season. The Wildcats opened the year with their smallest roster since the earliest years of the program and also had the toughest schedule in program history. Those factors, though, never seemed to have an effect on St. Kate's soccer team as it defied all odds to win the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoff Championship and earn the program's first bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. Unfortunately, the Wildcats fantastic and historical season came to an end Friday morning. St. Kate's fell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to the University of Chicago by a final score of 3-0. | Season Statistics

THE LAST TIME ST. CATHERINE AND STOUT MET:  UW-Stout picked up their first win of the season, and didn't need to go into overtime to do. After two double overtime ties to open the season, the Blue Devils made Jenna Kizlik's first period goal stand-up and went on to a 1-0 win over St. Catherine University Sept. 8, 2015. Kizlik scored unassisted in the 26th minute for the eventual game-winner when she collected the ball about 30 yards out, took a single touch and launched the shot with her left foot over the keeper into the side net. | Story and Stats

THE SERIES: The Blue Devils hold a 4-2-0 lead in the series. Stout has won the last three meetings (2015, 2010, 2009).


AWARDS: 2017: Midfielder Sydney Kasper earned first team All-WIAC honors as well as all-district honors and Academics All-District honors. Forward Kaitlyn Hess was also a first team all-conference pick...defender Jessica Ingle was the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week after Stout defeated River Falls and tied with Stevens Point, 1-1...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 2018 season are Sydney Kasper, Melissa Rice and Sarah Dickmann.

UW-STOUT COACH RYAN RAUFUS: Coach Ryan Raufus (54-59-18) is in his eighth 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 have 16 newcomers to the squad, including 14 freshmen. The team also includes two seniors, four juniors and four sophomores...former players Kelly Conn and Bethany Hanson join the coaching staff.

TWENTY-THREE 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 stay at home by hosting St. Mary's University Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. and UW-Superior Saturday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m.