2004 WIAC Women's Soccer Preview

2004 WIAC Women's Soccer Preview

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which has won the conference title in 10 of the last 12 years, is favored to win the 2004 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) women's soccer championship, according to the league's sports information directors.

The Pointers, who have appeared in seven straight NCAA Division III tournaments, received seven of nine first-place votes in the conference poll.

UW-River Falls, which secured last season's regular-season championship to snap UW-Stevens Point's six-year streak, received the remaining two first-place votes in the league survey and is pegged to finish second in the nine-team race.

Following is a brief preview of each WIAC women's soccer team, listed in alphabetical order, with its 2003 overall and conference record in parenthesis.

UW-Eau Claire (8-11-1, 3-5 WIAC)

UW-Eau Claire will have a brand new look in 2004 as 29 newcomers and 10 returning letterwinners look to fill the void of a team that has lost 20 letterwinners the past two seasons.

Junior forward Marcia Foltz returns after a sophomore campaign that saw her lead the team with 28 points and 12 goals, while finishing second with four assists. One of only two sophomores to earn all-WIAC honors a year ago, Foltz was fifth in the conference in goals and sixth in points. Foltz will be a team captain in 2004, along with sophomore defender Emily Meissinger.

Junior midfielder Jill Cope joins Foltz and Meissinger as the only returning Blugolds to start every match in 2003. Cope tallied three goals and three assists last season.

UW-La Crosse (9-6-1, 5-2-1)

UW-La Crosse head coach Sara Burton returns 15 letterwinners and 10 starters from last year's squad. The Eagles' highlights last season included a 2-1 double overtime win over UW-Stevens Point, marking the Pointers' first WIAC regular-season loss in school history (a span of 87 matches). The Eagles also amassed a school record eight-match unbeaten streak (7-0-1) in 2003.

A group of eight seniors will lead the Eagles in 2004, including last year's second-leading scorer in forward Cynthia Fudzinski with 10 points. Fellow seniors Leah LeFebvre and Jenny Gellerman also return at forward after finishing with eight points last season. Gellerman is tied for 11th on the school's all-time list with 26 career points.

Senior midfielders Julie Taylor, Shannon Patterson and Sara Schroedel add plenty of experience for the Eagles. Taylor, who ranks sixth with 16 career goals and 42 points, was an all-WIAC selection as a freshman. Patterson and Schroedel each played in all 16 matches a year ago. Senior Jayna Stransky leads the defense in 2004 after starting all 16 matches last season and playing in 49 matches in her three-year career.

Junior Stephanie Harbaugh will begin the season as goalkeeper after starting all 16 matches last year and registering a 1.29 goals against average with five shutouts. Junior Ashley Marshall returns at midfielder after starting 15 matches in 2003, while juniors Khyl Sircy and Sarah Swoboda are back at defender.

A group of 10 sophomores saw playing time last season, including midfielder Jennifer Watry, who led UW-La Crosse with five assists and 11 points, while tying for second with three goals.

UW-Oshkosh (14-5-2, 5-2-1)

With a new head coach and the inheritance of five starters and three reserves from last year's squad, UW-Oshkosh enters the 2004 season looking to continue its development and ascent within the WIAC.

Last fall, UW-Oshkosh recorded 13-plus wins for the third time in four seasons and came within seconds of claiming a share of the WIAC championship. UW-Oshkosh tallied the second-highest victory count in school history a year ago by yielding just 11 goals and shutting out 12 of its 21 opponents. The Titans lost all five of their matches by one goal last season, including a contest with 14 seconds left in double overtime to eventual WIAC champion UW-River Falls. UW-Oshkosh also played scoreless ties a year ago with perennial NCAA Division III powers UW-Stevens Point and Wheaton College (Ill.).

UW-Oshkosh's maturation process and mission will be guided this fall by former all-WIAC standout Erin Leinweber. Leinweber, an Oshkosh native who helped UW-Stevens Point to a pair of WIAC championships as a player in the mid-1990s, comes to UW-Oshkosh from North Park University (Ill.), where she served as the school's head women's soccer coach for three seasons.

A good combination of experience, youth and depth will serve as key components for Leinweber's first UW-Oshkosh team. Expected to lead this year's squad are returning starters Michelle John, Nicole Kunick, Kristen Malmstrom, Karin Reinke and Stacy Stroud and 2003 reserves Christine Barutha, Nikki Goes and Kristi Olejnik. Reinke, a senior midfielder, received all-Central Region third team and all-WIAC honors a year ago after scoring 20 points on eight goals and four assists. The Titans also welcome back Melissa Gruber, who started 36 matches for the Titans in 2001 and 2002.

UW-Platteville (2-16, 1-7)

UW-Platteville continues its building process with nine returning letterwinners and a host of talented newcomers for second-year head coach Chris Bianchi.

Three-time all-WIAC player Jessi Jones returns for her senior season after being involved with all but one of the team's goals last year. She scored four goals and three assists to lead the Pioneers.

Two other starters return in three-year letterwinner Becca Humphrey, one of the team's top defenders, and sophomore defender Emily Brunton, who had a standout first year. Stefanie Lund played in all 18 matches as a reserve, while Stacy Demerath played in 16, scoring one goal, and Nicole Maas saw action in 12.

UW-River Falls (17-4, 6-2)

UW-River Falls will try to duplicate last year's success when the team came away with a school-best 17 victories and their first WIAC championship. Sean McKuras returns for his third season with the Falcons. He has been named the league coach of the year the last two years and owns the best winning percentage of all active WIAC coaches (30-9-2, .756).

Junior forward Sarah Carlson returns for the Falcons after being named the WIAC Co-Player of the Year last season. She finished second in the conference with 16 goals and third in scoring with 38 points, while adding eight game-winning goals.

Two sophomores, who tied for second on the team with 20 points, also return. Defender Ashley Peterson tallied seven goals, six assists and was named to the all-WIAC squad, while midfielder Amy Jensen compiled six goals and a team-leading eight assists. Senior Emily Rodgers also returns and will move to forward after playing midfield a season ago, when she registered five goals and 12 points. Senior Molly McClanahan will be a key player for the Falcons in the midfield.

The main concern for the Falcons will be goaltending where Apryl Jennrich played for the past four years and earned all-WIAC honors the last two seasons. Also gone is freshman sweeper Kelly Sapan, who transferred to the University of Minnesota.

UW-Stevens Point (15-4-3, 5-1-2)

It doesn't take a soccer expert to figure out the strengths and questions for UW-Stevens Point this season. The team returns its entire defense from last year's WIAC tournament championship squad, but lost more than half of its scoring from the conference's top offensive team.

Defensively, the Pointers return three-time all-WIAC selection Tara Schmitt along with seniors Mollie Kreibich and Melissa Becker and junior Katie O'Leary. Abbey Kirchdoerfer is also back at sweeper after playing every minute of every match as a freshman. The top returning goalkeeper is junior Kortney Krill, who played in all but one match in 2002.

However, no doubt the biggest questions are on offense. The Pointers only lost three players, but the trio of Jenny Bruce, Kelly Fink and Andrea Oswald combined to score or assist 61 of the team's 76 goals and account for over half of the team's points. Top returners for this year are all-WIAC senior midfielder Megan Frey as well as seniors Kim Reese and Alyssa Souza.

UW-Stout (12-7, 4-4)

UW-Stout is coming off their best season in 2003 with 12 wins. As a team, the Blue Devils led the WIAC in goal margin (3.2-0.6) and ranked second behind only UW-Stevens Point in points (179), goals (61), goals/game (3.21), assists (57) and assists per game (3.0). Defensively, UW-Stout was second in goals allowed (0.63) and goals against average (0.63). The Blue Devils ranked 24th in the NCAA Division III in goals per game and 25th in goals against average, while posting a program-best 61 goals and allowing a program-low 12 goals.

Senior goalkeeper Melissa Ballweg roamed the net for a school-record seven shutouts and shared in 10 shutouts in last year. Her goals against average was a school record 0.69 and ranked second in the conference.

Senior midfielder Carrie Schrank earned all-WIAC honors last year and led all of NCAA Division III in assists per game with 1.12 and 19 total, despite missing two matches.

UW-Stout returns 18 letterwinners, including top six scorers: midfielders Schrank (5 g, 19 a), Krista Hight (6 g, 4 a), and Heidi Schultz (1 g, 9 a) and forwards Shannon Hermes (14 g, 5 a), Kelly Stolarczyk (12 g, 3 a) and Tanya Gegare (5 g, 2 a).

UW-Superior (5-12-2, 0-8)

Since Chris Perez assumed the head coaching duties for UW-Superior four years ago, the Yellowjackets have taken a step forward each season. Steps forward have come in the quality of recruits, the quality of players and the quality of competition.

Replacing the loss of four-year starter Gina King will be challenging, but the Yellowjackets should be up for the task with 15 returnees and eight newcomers. Perez hopes to win 10-12 non-conference matches and take a few conference matches as well.

A quartet of senior starters returns from last season, including midfielders Rachel Sawyer, Erin Pride and Jesse Pride, while Erin Johnson will move from goalkeeper into the field. All four individuals started all 19 matches for the Yellowjackets a year ago.

UW-Whitewater (11-3-2, 4-2-2)

The most revealing numbers from UW-Whitewater's 2003 campaign are team statistics. The 2003 team averaged the second most goals per match in the history of the program (2.94 per game); however, the number of shots taken was not even in the top 10. The 2003 team also allowed just 1.06 goals per game, second best in the school record book - but goalie saves were nowhere to be found in the top 10.

That isn't to say that Staci Gustafson's points (second in career assists, third in points, fourth in goals), or that all-Central Region and all-WIAC midfielder Christin Acklam, or all-WIAC midfielder Dani Daggett won't be missed, just that the accomplishments of the team that did not lose a non-conference match, were a reflection of a team-first philosophy.

Thirteen players that played in at least 10 matches return from last year's club. That list includes senior goalkeeper Jamie Carollo, who started all 16 matches (and 34 in her first three years), while compiling a 1.01 goals against average. Ashley Tranchita, Sara Walkington and Allison Starch all kept offenses away from Carollo last year.

Junior midfielder Stephanie Gaal (5 goals, 14 points), junior forward Jacie Hein (6-17) and sophomore forward Lindsey Kohlbeck (6-13) are all proven scorers on the team this season.

2004 Preseason Predictions (Voted on by WIAC Sports Information Directors)

1. Stevens Point (7)
2. River Falls (2)
3. Oshkosh
4. La Crosse
5. Whitewater
6. Stout
7. Eau Claire
8. Platteville
9. Superior

( )--First-Place votes

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