Soccer Preview: Blue Devils begin five game home stand with Carleton tonight

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: When the Blue Devils host Carleton College (1-0-1, 0-0-0 MIAC) Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m., it will mark the first of a five-game homestand for UW-Stout (2-0-0, 0-0-0 WIAC). After tonight, Stout will host St. Scholastica, Saturday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m., Cornell College Sunday, Sept. 12 at noon, UW-Superior, Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. and Macalester College, Saturday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m.

2019 ROAD WARRIORS: The Blue Devils were road warriors in 2019, with every single game a bus trip tallying more than 3000 bus miles on the season. Four conference games that were originally to be played in Menomonie were moved and Stout played "home" games with UW-Stevens Point, UW-Oshkosh and Minnesota-Morris at UW-River Falls, while "home" games with UW-Whitewater and UW-Eau Claire were played in Eau Claire.

ON-LINE: All of Stout's home games are expected to be available in a live video stream and in live stats. 

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, which is located adjacent to Nelson Field. Do not park in Lot 4, which is a reserved lot for students that live in the residence halls.

A LOOK AT THE 2021 BLUE DEVILS: The Blue Devils have opened the season with a pair of shutouts and have spread the scoring around a bit. The Blue Devils defeated Concordia-Moorhead, 1-0, Sept. 1, in the first home game at Nelson Field in 1050 days. Freshman Liv Winkler scored the game winner with eight minutes remaining. Caylee Boone took the throw-in from Marissa Steele, headed for the goal and passed the ball off to Winkler who was waiting in the box. In a 3-0 win at Benedictine, Sept. 5, Remy Soulak scored her first collegiate goal, scoring in the sixth minute of the game on assists by Boone and freshman Hailey Kane. Freshman Lexi Boyd scored in the 38th minute of the game and Winkler racked up her second goal of the season, scoring unassisted in the 59th minute. Julia McNamar has notched two shutouts in her first-ever games in goal at any level. So far, McNamar has turned away a total of seven saves over the two games.

THE BLUE DEVILS PREVIEW: The Blue Devils will need to replace the vast majority of their top scorers from 2019, with Marissa Steele the only Blue Devil returning with more than two points after scoring two goals - of which both were game-winners - and an assist. The Blue Devils will be looking to replace goalkeeper Claudia Anderson, who saw action in 17 games in 2019 and started 11 games.  | 2019 Statistics | Complete 2021 Season Preview

The Blue Devils come into the season with a huge squad - with 34 on the roster at the start of training. camp. But of those 34, eight have seen collegiate action and only seven have scored at least one collegiate point. Steele leads the way in career points, scoring five goals and four assists for 14 points. Caylee Boone scored a goal during her first season as a Blue Devils and Rachel Younker scored a goal in her lone season. Lexie Wescott and Whitney Carothers has scored an assist.  Defender Mekenzie Bisel has played two full years, playing 14 games with St. Mary's University in 2018, before transferring to Stout in 2019 where she played in all 18 games, joining Carothers and Washington as the only players to play in every game that season. Julie McNamar has yet to play a countable game for Stout, but did play nine games for the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in 2019. The Blue Devils finished with five wins in 2019, and three of those wins were shutouts.

THE BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: Before the season started, UW-Stout coach Ryan Raufus said he was sure his team would spread the scoring around. After two games, that has happened with three different players scoring the combined four goals on the season as the Blue Devil (2-0) defense delivered their second shutout of the season in a 3-0 win at Benedictine University Sunday afternoon. Remy Soulak and Lexi Boyd got their names in the book today, scoring in the first half, to record their first collegiate goals. Soulak got the Blue Devils started, with assists by Caylee Boone and Hailey Kane, when she lit up the net with a goal in the sixth minute of the game. Boyd doubled the Blue Devils' fun, scoring unassisted in the 38th minute. A little more than 12 minutes into the second half, freshman Liv Winkler scored her second goal of the season, this time unassisted. Julia McNamar recorded her second shutout of her collegiate goalkeeper career, stopping six shots on frame. This is McNamar's first season in goal at any level of soccer. | Benedictine Game Story and Stats


A LOOK AT CARLETON COLLEGE:  The Knights opened the season with a 2-2 tie Sept. 1 with fellow MIAC member Macalester, then picked up their first win of the season with a 3-2 win at Cornell College, a team Stout will play Sunday. Annette Shumway scored the game-winner over Cornell, scoring in the 61st minute, with an assist by Megan Cabik. The Knights scored the first two goals of the game. Casey MacVeagh scored in the third minute of the contest and Lily Hurtubise made it 2-0 in the 19th minute. The Rams cut the score in half two minutes later and tied the score on a penalty kick in the 28th minute. Carleton held a 20-7 lead in overall shots and a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal. Ezra Kucur has played both games in net and has a GAA of 1.80.  |  Season Statistics

THE LAST TIME CARLETON AND STOUT MET: The teams have played eight times and the Blue Devils have yet to take a win over the Knights. The teams last played Sept. 14, 2019, in Northfield, Minn., with Carleton taking a 5-0 win. Lily Hurtubis scored the opening goal. Cate Patterson scored the next two goals. Carleton held a 40-5 advantage in overall shots. | Game Story and Stats

THE SERIES: The Knights hold an 8-0-0 lead in the series.


A LOOK AT ST. SCHOLASTICA:    2021 Season Statistics

THE SAINTS LAST TIME OUT: Scholastica is scheduled to play at Luther College, Wednesday, Sept. 8. The Saints are coming off a 2-2 tie with UW-Eau Claire, Sept. 5.  he St. Scholastica women's soccer team trailed twice, but battled to a 2-2 tie with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Sunday at Saints Field.  | Game Story and Stats

THE LAST TIME ST. SCHOLASTICA AND STOUT MET: For the third time in four games, UW-Stout allowed only one goal, but the Blue Devils could not get on the board and the College of St. Scholastica took a 1-0 win on a brisk fall afternoon Oct. 15, 2019. The Saints, which won their fifth consecutive game, got the game winner seven minutes into the game when Morgan Friday scored her 17th goal of the season. With the small crowd bundled up and huddled under umbrellas, the two teams did not allow a goal the rest of the way.  Stout's Claudia Anderson recorded six saves and allowed the one goal. The Saints' Alexa Gothard made three saves. The Saints outshot Stout 12-10  The Blue Devils had some opportunities, playing nearly the entire final 10 minutes in the Saints' zone, but could not cross the plain of the net. Caylee Boone, coming back from injury for the first time in a week, recorded four shots, two on net. Bella Pedlar had the Blue Devils' other shot on frame and had three overall shots.   |  Game Story and Stats

THE SERIES: The Blue Devils hold a 6-3 lead in the series which goes back to the 2000 season. The Saints have won the last two meetings. .


A LOOK AT CORNELL COLLEGE:  This will be the second meeting between the two teams.  |  2021 Season Statistics

THE RAMS LAST TIME OUT: Cornell will be at Viterbo Saturday. Cornell's women's soccer team concluded its opening three-game homestand with a hard-fought 1-0 defeat to Central College on Sunday afternoon. Cornell's defense resisted the pressure from the Dutch attack for the majority of the match. However, just after the 78-minute mark of the game, the Dutch found a winning goal. Elise Thomason-Larsen had another fine game in goal for the Rams. She notched five more saves and came up with a couple big ones in the match before conceding the eventual winner. Sydney Hancox. Sanne Croes and Sam O'Brien provided the attacking spark for the Rams, each recording a shot in the match. Cornell's defense hung tough against 17 shots by the Dutch (2-1). The Rams (1-2) were held to three attempts on the day.  | Game Story and Stats

THE LAST TIME CORNELL  AND STOUT MET: Playing in a light rain throughout the game, Ariel Kuchta recorded a goal and an assist as UW-Stout snapped a three-game skid with a 3-2 win over Cornell College Sept. 21, 2019. The Rams got the scoring going 12 minutes into the contest on a Cali Pfleger goal, but Stout (2-4) answered back when senior tri-captain Hannah Kirchner scored her second goal of the season, an assisted marker in the 19th minute. Kuchta scored Stout's second goal of the day to give the Blue Devils the lead, getting an assist from Megan Richardson. For Kuchta, it was her second goal of the season. For Richardson, it was her first collegiate point.  Cornell (2-3) knotted the game in the 56th minute on a goal by Sofia Schnur. Marissa Steele, Stout's leading returning scorer, gave Stout the lead in the 63rd minute with an assist by Kuchta. It was Steele's first goal of the season. Erika Seitz earned her first collegiate win by recording three saves.  |  Game Story and Stats

THE SERIES: This will be the second meeting between the two teams. 



BLUE DEVIL ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Week One: Offensive athlete of the week: Liv Winkler, Fr, Duluth, Minn. (East); Defensive athlete of the week: Hailey Kane, Fr, Green Bay, Wis (Bayport).


TEAM CAPTAINS: Blue Devil team captains for the 2021 season are Lexie Wescott, Caylee Boone and Marissa Steele.

UW-STOUT COACH RYAN RAUFUS: Coach Ryan Raufus (62-85-19) is in his 11th year as the head coach of the Blue Devils in 2021. 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. (Raufus began the 2021 season at 60-85-19)


TWENTY-FIVE-PLUS 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, Angela 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 are scheduled to host UW-Superior, Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. and Macalester College, Saturday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m.