Logan Myhre-

The UWStout women’s soccer team played the University of St. Thomas on Oct. 12. They were definitely seen as the underdogs in this game, as the St. Thomas women’s soccer team is ranked 13th in the nation.

The Blue Devils played very well and ended up winning 1-0, giving the Tommies their first loss of the season. UWStout did something during this game that no other team has done to St. Thomas this season: they had them trailing at half.   

Head coach Ryan Raufus was able to get an idea for the strengths and weaknesses of St. Thomas by talking to the teams they had played previously. He coached his team to be aware of the Tommies’ strengths and to try and combat those as best they could. Coach Raufus believes he knows just what it is going to take to win these tough games consistently.

UW-Stout faced off against 13th ranked University of St. Thomas. / UW-Stout Sports Information photos
UW-Stout faced off against 13th ranked University of St. Thomas. / UW-Stout Sports Information photos

“It’s just going to require a 90-minute effort. When we play hard for 90 minutes, we stick to the game plan for 90 minutes, and we stay organized and communicate for 90 minutes. Then we are an extremely tough team to beat.”

Coach Raufus also stated that this game gave a very young team a lot of confidence about their ability to win tough games, and he thinks this will carry over to the rest of their season.

The lady Blue Devils hope to be able to host a home game for the conference tournament at the end of the season, and to end up with a record over .500.

Kelly Conn (Sr, Menasha, Wis.), who scored the only goal of the game, was named the WIAC soccer offensive athlete of the week and the UWStout Digicopy athlete of the week for her performance during the St. Thomas game.

Coach Raufus has a great opinion of Conn and believes that the senior will continue playing well.

“She’s been a great leader on the field for us. She’s stepped up and scored big goals in big situations. She’s done an excellent job making her senior year a great year and helping us develop a young team”.

The women’s soccer team still has a lot of season left to play, and hopefully they will continue to reach for the goals they have set for themselves.

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