Blue Devil Athletics Kick Off Fall Seasons

Sydney Kasper celebrates the game-winning goal made by teammate Sarah Todey in overtime against St.Scholastica.

Although it is only the third week for most Stout students, Blue Devil fall athletes have been training hard in Menomonie for five weeks. With fall season underway, all teams have overcome obstacles and achieved many feats that deserve some recognition. 

FOOTBALL:

The football team opened up their season against the well-respected Bethel University. It was quite the game too!

Despite expectations otherwise, the football team pleasantly surprised everyone as they stepped it up and kept with the Royals for the first three quarters of the game. Although the Royals defeated Stout 35-20, the Blue Devil’s offense never let up with a total yardage count of 422. Their last season’s game average was barely half of that.

Stout was able to take that energy into their next game as they defeated Loras College 52-42 with a whopping 534 total offensive yards. Evidently, this Blue Devil’s offense is the best Stout has seen recent years. It will only be a matter of time until their defense follows their lead. The next home game for the Blue Devils will be Homecoming on October 3rd as they take on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

VOLLEYBALL:

The Stout volleyball team started their season with a bang and a 5 game win streak.

At the beginning of their season Stout had the fortunate opportunity to represent Menomonie on the east coast, which they did rather well. The Blue Devils brought home three wins and only one loss from the Pacific Coast Classic in California.

Stout is now 10-5, and just opened up their conference play against University of Wisconsin- River Falls on Wednesday, September 23rd. The Blue Devils defeated the Falcons 3-1.

This weekend will also be a big one for the young and talented team where Stout will take on four, challenging opponents in the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater tournament.

SOCCER:

The women’s soccer team is off to a great start this season! Their current record is 5-1-2 and are currently ranked near the top in the conference standings. Just last week they were ranked fourth in the region and received a vote in the national ranking poll as well. Stout had a fantastic weekend. They tallied two more wins and started their conference season off undefeated against University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  

On Wednesday September 23rd, the Blue Devils beat St. Mary’s University, despite the downpour they encountered. The Blue Devils hope to improve their conference record to 2-0 when they travel to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Saturday. They will host another four home games this season, with the next home game being on Wednesday, September 30th against University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. 

CROSS COUNTRY:

The men’s cross country season is looking rather promising this year! Two weeks ago, Stout travelled to River Falls where they placed second and beat out five other teams. Stout was led by freshman Aleks Ilyushev who placed eighth overall. Stout had five other top 20 finishers which all contributed to the team’s success at River Falls. Coming up for the Blue Devil runners is the UW-Eau Claire BluGold Invitational just a day before homecoming. 

Likewise, the women’s cross country team also beat out five other teams at the River Falls Invitation and placed third overall. Kathleen Thorn had an impressive second place finish. Joining her in the top 20 were three teammates. Also, keep an eye out for the women’s team who will also be traveling to Eau Claire on Friday, October 2nd. 

Photo Credit: UW-Stout Athletics

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• Camille Fawcett