2021 UW-Stout Soccer Statistics
MENOMONIE (August 18, 2022) - If there is strength in numbers, then the UW-Stout soccer team will be a strong team.
As the Blue Devils report to preseason camp today (August 18), the roster is expected to be near a record 35 women's soccer players looking ahead to the 2022 season.
The Blue Devils, coming off an 11-8-1 overall record, along with their top two scorers in 2021 - all-region pick
Marissa Steele (Sr, Farmington, Minn) and
Liv Winkler (So, Duluth, Minn) - return 11 of their top 13 scorers from last year, a season where Stout outscored their opponents, 31-24.
Stout will have a well balanced mix of returners and newcomers, with 20 returners projected to return. The veterans will be complemented by 15 first year players.
"We have a really good mix of youth and returners who are committed to working together on the soccer field," head coach
Ryan Raufus said. "We are excited. We are coming off a really good season. We are young, but we have a great group of leaders in our upper classes."
All of Stout's games last season were tight games. Defensively, Stout notched six shutouts and only once was the team outscored by more than two goals. Four of their losses were by one goal. Stout outscored their opponents by an average of 1.6-1.20.
Steele, a senior midfielder, led the team offensively, scoring five goals and dishing off eight assists for 18 total points to earn first team all-conference honors and third team all-region honors. Winkler, a sophomore forward, was the team's leader in goals with six and passed off three assists for 15 points. As a true freshman, Winkler scored the team's first goal of the year, scoring in the waning minutes in a 1-0 season-opening win over Concordia-Moorhead.
"It's a comforting feeling to have a lot of our goal scorers back," Raufus, who enters his 11th year at Stout, said. "We had so many players scoring multiple goals, it was harder to defend. I think the players we brought in will only add to that."
Steele had a breakout year, building on improvements through each of her previous seasons.
"Marissa gets better every single season," Raufus said. "She is finding her voice on the field and with her desire to win, the other players are feeding off that."
Winkler will be joined on the forward line by senior
Caylee Boone (Eau Claire), who provided the assist for Winkler's first collegiate goal. Boone has appeared in 47 games over her three years (four years, with the non-competition COVID season in 2020) and punched in her second collegiate goal last year. Boone added three assists to tally five points.
"Caylee has been with the program for a long time," Raufus said. "She knows what it means to be a Blue Devil. She creates problems (for the other team) up front."
With Steele highlighting a midfield group that Raufus calls "collectively, the best group of midfielders we have had," the Blue Devils should be able to continue to push up their attack, as well as work hard defensively.
"This is an outstanding group of midfielders," Raufus said. "This is a bunch with a great work ethic that work well together and can defend as well as attack."
Rachel Younker (Sr, Genoa, Ill) has developed into one of the leaders in the middle. Younker scored a college-best three goals last season and added an assist for seven points.
"Rachel has an incredible desire to compete and win," Raufus said. "She is one of our vocal leaders who can hold everyone accountable and backs it up with her play, making it more impactful."
Carly Kaufman (So, Hanover, Minn),
Lauren Chukel (So, Hudson) and
Lizzie Leitzen (So, Rochester, Minn) each played in all 20 games in their first year of collegiate play. Kauffmann finished with three goals and three assists. Chukel scored two goals and an assist and Leitzen recorded her first collegiate point with an assist.
Also returning at midfield are
Whitley Carothers (Sr, Hayward),
Olivia Lewis (Jr, East Bethel, Minn),
Kayla Shoultz (So, Delano, Minn),
Addie Evans (So, Kasson, Minn),
Lauren Boyd (So, Buffalo, Minn),
Addy Spaeth (So, Rochester, Minn),
Allie Rys (So, Bartlett, Ill) and
Anna Herzog (So, Owatonna, Minn).
"It's nice to have 6-7-8 players capable of keeping our players fresh," Raufus said. "By design, we want to keep players (subbing) in. That helps to conserve energy for the whole game."
True freshman
Hailey Kane (So, Green Bay) served notice in the defense backfield last season and earned first team all conference honors.
Kane who scored her first collegiate goal - a long looping ball into the net to put Stout ahead against Carleton and added an assist.
"Hailey is very comfortable with the ball," Raufus said, "which allows her to get forward is what separates her. She can create chances."
Kane is one of several players the Blue Devils will be counting on defensively, a group that is young, but talented.
Julia McNamar (Sr, Belleville),
Jamie Hensel (Jr, Woodbury, Minn),
Sydney Rahn (So, Red Wing, Minn), and
Andi Romenesko (So, Rochester, Minn) round out the defensive returners.
"We have a lot of options we will be able to move with," Raufus said.
Only McNamar returns with goalie experience after starting in net in two games when Stout's only goalie last season was injured. McNamar played in three games and did not allow a goal, notching two wins.
But McNamar will return to defense where she saw action in two games last year. The Blue Devils will turn to the freshman class for their goalie, with Lily Shield (Fr, Portage, Ind) and Lily Black (Fr, Kihei, Hawai'i) vying for the starting role.
Both had a great deal of success in high school and with club soccer teams, Raufus said.
Boone, Steele, McNamar and Younker will serve as 2022 team captains.
The Blue Devils open the 2022 season by traveling to Hamline University, Thursday, Sept. 1, then open the home portion of their schedule by hosting a tough Augsburg University team, Saturday, Sept. 3 at 1 p.m.
Raufus believes the team has ramped up their non-conference schedule to go along with an always tough WIAC schedule.
"We are excited to get back on the field," Raufus said. "We are ready for the next step. It's not an easy step, but we are ready for the challenge."
