Game Notes

Setting the Scene:
The Washburn Lady Blues soccer team will open the 2008 season off the mainland as they travel to Hawaii for a pair of contests against Hawaii Pacific on Aug. 29 and BYU-Hawaii on Aug. 30. It is the first trip for the Lady Blues in their seven-year history have traveled off the continental United States.

Lady Blues Season Preview:
The Lady Blues soccer team returns 18 letterwinners and all 11 starters from last season's squad which reached the MIAA Postseason Tournament and narrowly missed the NCAA Regional Playoffs after going 10-6-5 overall with an 8-2-4 mark.
This season the Lady Blues have a school-record 26 players who look to make an impact leading Washburn back to the top of the MIAA charts when they won the 2005 conference championship and back to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since that same season.
“We are ready to get the season started,” sixth-year head coach Tim Collins said. “We have great leadership in our seniors and a great mix of youth and experience which will benefit us this season.”

Forwards
The Lady Blues front line could again be one of the best in the MIAA with 28 goals and 25 assists returning from last season.
“Last year's front line was talented as well, but I believe this season will be even better and possibly be the best one in the conference,” Collins said. “We have added more depth to our front line allowing us to create scoring opportunities from more than two or three people.”
Leading the Lady Blues is senior forward Jessica Mainz, the 2006 and 2007 MIAA Most Valuable Player and a three-time all-region selection. Mainz holds 12 Washburn career records and 15 single-season records as she enters her final season at Washburn. Last season, she broke her own school record for goals in a season for the second time scoring 15 adding on seven assists, which also tied a school record.
Fellow senior Danielle Ayala made a big splash in her first season at Washburn after transferring in from California by finishing second on the team with nine goals while adding five assists en route to second team all-MIAA honors.
Another senior, Manon Englehardt scored four goals and tied the school record for the most assists in a season with seven.  She was an honorable mention all-MIAA pick after joining the Lady Blues following her sophomore season at the University of Iowa
Also returning is a pair of juniors in Ashley Taylor and Lauren Lawless. Taylor started seven of 21 matches last season picking up five assists and Lawless played in all 21 matches picking up an assist.
Joining the Lady Blues this season will be freshmen Morgan Barrett and Kelsey Stauffer and sophomore Brianne Silovsky. Barrett was a first team all-state pick as a senior and Stauffer earned all-conference honors during her prep career. Silovsky was an all-state pick during her career as well.

Midfielders
Roaming the midfield, the Lady Blues have three starters returning who scored a combined seven goals while sending forward nine assists.
“Our midfielders must be ready to send the ball forward and do some attacking themselves,” Collins said. “One of the qualities I like about our midfielders is they can all move up and play a forward position, so that will help us in the fact that we can really dictate to the other team the speed of the game.”
Junior Keeley Lambeth led the goal scoring out of the group with three goals while adding an assist. All three of her goals were match-winners as she earned second team all-MIAA honors.
Senior Traci Nigg dished out five assists during the season while adding a goal of her own. Nigg was a second team all-conference pick last season.
Junior Angela Wiseman scored two goals and picked up three assists earning honorable mention all-MIAA honors after the season.
A trio of sophomores round out the group in Markie Gallagher, Brittany Tracz and Carrie Pennewell. Gallagher scored one goal seeing action in all 21 matches with one start and Tracz and Pennewell played in 13 and nine matches respectively.
Joining the returning midfielders will be four talented freshmen in Lauren Henry, Brandy Hirsch, Kyleigh Olmsted and Nicole Tomes.
Henry, a Randolph, Kan., native is a three-time Kansas Olympic State development team member and had four state club team championship titles. Hirsch was a three-time letterwinner at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka. Olmsted, who could also see time at a defender's position, was an all-state, all-league and all-region pick as a senior in Derby, Kan. Tomes, one of 12 Topekans on the squad, was an all-state, all-league pick at Shawnee Heights.
“The new players will push the returners for playing time which will make for good competition during the season,” Collins said.

Defenders
Washburn returns all four starters back from last season who started a combined 84 of 84 matches with another Lady Blue who saw action in 20 matches.
Senior Lisa Fahey, who went three seasons without scoring at Washburn scored six goals as a junior en route to first team all-MIAA honors and first team all-region accolades as well.
Fellow senior Kaydi Hooker has started all 63 matches of her Washburn career and was named honorable mention all-MIAA for the third season as a junior.
A pair of sophomores, Dani Sicard and Jordan Shefte each started all 21 matches last season. Sicard scored a goal earning honorable mention all-MIAA honors. Another sophomore, Ashley Hynek, also played in all 21 matches in her first season at Washburn.
“Our two seniors are going to be the leaders of the defense,” Collins said. “This year will be that much better with three freshman who played a lot of minutes in their first season at Washburn gaining a lot of experience which will help them for the remainder of their careers here.”
Freshman Kelsey Raiman was a first team all-state, all-league, all-region and all-city selection after scoring three goals as a senior at Washburn Rural High School.

Goalkeepers
The Lady Blues return both goalkeepers from last season in sophomore Ashley Klone and senior Jenny Persons. Klone recorded a 0.57 goal against average allowing six goals in just under 940 minutes of action making 10 starts in goal going 7-2-1.
Persons made 11 starts between the pipes playing 1,070 minutes allowing 13 goals and recording a 1.09 goal against average.
“It's going to be a battle for playing time,” Collins said. “Both goalies push one another to be the best and we're fortunate to have two outstanding keepers.”

The Season
The Washburn Lady Blues soccer team was picked fourth in the MIAA Preseason Soccer Coaches Poll which was released before practice started. The Lady Blues picked up 47 points trailing MIAA newcomer Nebraska-Omaha, which had 60 points and four first-place votes as the team to beat in the league. Central Missouri had three first-place votes and 54 points and Truman had one first-place vote and 53 total points.
“Our conference again will be a battle,” Collins said. “With the addition of UNO, there will be 16 battles for each team through the MIAA schedule and the championship will be well-deserved for the team who comes out on top.”
In addition to the 16-match MIAA slate, the Lady Blues will leave on Aug. 27 for the Hawaiian Islands as they will take on Hawaii-Pacific on Aug. 29 before taking on BYU-Hawaii the following day.
The remainder of the non-conference schedule includes a trip to Denver, Colo., for matches against Metro State and Regis on Sept. 5 and Sept. 7. The Lady Blues will also take on Central Oklahoma on Sept. 10 in Wichita at Newman University and Rockhurst on Oct. 1 in Kansas City.

About the Sea Warriors:
Quick Kicks: The Lady Blues and the Seasiders have never met. HPU's athletic director Darren Vorderbruegge was an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri on the men's basketball team for six years before taking the AD/head men's basketball coach for the Seasiders. The native Kansan spent 13 years at the high school level. He served as an assistant coach at West Elk High School from 1987-89 before being named the head coach at Hoisington (Kan.) High School from 1989-93. He later spent three years as an assistant coach at Wichita Northwest High School for three seasons before taking over as head coach in 1996.
About HPU: The Sea Warriors were 3-15-0 last season and 2-10-0 in the Pacific West Conference.
About the coach: Michele Nagamine is in her first season at HPU. As the head coach of the Kamehameha School girls soccer team since 1993, she has won four Hawai'i State Championships and five Interscholastic League of Honolulu titles. Nagamine was named ILH Coach of the Year a league record six times, and is a four-time selection as the Honolulu Advertiser and Star-Bulletin State Coach of the Year.
Series history: Washburn has never played Hawaii Pacific.

About the Seasiders:
Quick Kicks: The Lady Blues have never played the Seasiders.
About BYU-Hawaii: The Seasiders were 13-6-1 and 10-2-0 winning the Pac West conference title. They return seven starters and 12 letterwinners from last season's squad.
About the coach: William Mohoni is in his first season coaching the Seasiders.
Series history: Washburn and BYU-Hawaii have never met.

Lady Blues Soccer History:
Washburn is 45-36-19 (.545) all-time in its fifth season of competing. In MIAA play, the Lady Blues are 30-26-15 (.481). In home matches, the Lady Blues are 22-14-8 and they are 17-18-8 on the road. In matches on neutral sites, the Lady Blues are 6-4-3.

Lady Blues last time out:
Truman 1, Washburn 0 -- MIAA Tournament Semifinals  (Nov. 3, 2007)
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Lady Blues season came to an end in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament in a 1-0 loss to Truman.
Truman's Theresa Bauler scored the only goal of the match at the 16:27 mark unassisted to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead. Emily Roark picked up the shutout in goal for Truman without picking up a save.
Truman outshot the Lady Blues 7-4 in the match.
Jenny Persons took the loss in goal for the Lady Blues allowing the solo goal picking up three saves.
Washburn will most likely finish the season 10-6-5 while Truman improves to 14-6-1.

Lady Blues Notes:
1     Jenny Persons / GK • Listed as questionable after suffering stress fractures in each leg.
2     Brittany Tracz / MF • Played in 13 games with four starts in her first season at Washburn last year.
3     Lisa Fahey / D • Has started all 63 games of her Washburn career, which ranks third on the career chart.
4     Ashley Taylor  / F • Has started 10 of 43 career matches played recording five goals and nine assists for 19 points.
5     Nicole Tomes / MF • An all-state, all-league and all-city pick as a senior at Shawnee Heights High School
6     Traci Nigg / MF • Has started all 62 career matches with six career goals and 10 assists which rank fifth all-time in career assists for the Lady Blues.
7     Kaydi Hooker  / D • Has started all 63 possible matches in her Washburn career, which is tied for third for the most starts in school history.
8     Danielle Ayala / F • After one season in a Lady Blue uniform, she ranks second all-time at Washburn in assists per game with 0.26 and shots per game with 3.21.
9     Lauren Lawless  / F • Has played in 38 career games in a Washburn uniform with six shots and two shots on goal.
10     Brandy Hirsch  / MF • A three-time letterwinner in soccer scoring a goal with five assists as a senior at Washburn Rural High School.
11     Jordan Shefte  / D • Started all 21 matches at Washburn taking one shot in her first season at Washburn.
12     Ashley Hynek  / D • Played in 20 matches picking up the game-winning assist in a 7-1 win over Missouri Western on Sept. 15.
13     Jessica Mainz  / F • Has started all 63 possible matches with 97 points, 41 goals and 15 assists. She ranks third in the MIAA in all-time points and goals scored and owns 12 Washburn career records and 15 single-season records for the Lady Blues
14     Markie Gallagher  / MF • Made one start appearing in 21 matches with one goal against Missouri Southern on Sept. 28 as a freshman.
15     Carrie Pennewell / MF • Played in nine games in her first season in a Lady Blues uniform attempting two shots with one shot on goal.
16     Kyleigh Olmsted  / MF/D • A three-year letter winner who earned all-state, all-league, all-metro and all-region honors as a senior at Derby High School.
17     Morgan Barrett / F • Named first team all-state class 6A as well as first team all-city and first team all-region at Washburn Rural High School.
18     Danielle Sicard  / D • Started all 21 matches tying a Washburn record for the most starts by a freshman scoring her first collegiate goal against Missouri Western.
20     Ashley Klone  / GK • Set freshman goalkeeping records with a 0.57 goal against average and six goals allowed.
21     Manon Englehardt  / F • Tied the single-season Washburn record with seven assists as a junior in her first season at Washburn.
22     Brianne Silovsky  / F • She earned second team all-league honors as a junior and first team all-league and all-state honors as a senior at Hayden High School.
23     Kelsey Stauffer  / F • A second team all-conference pick as a sophomore at Park Hill South High School.
24     Angela Wiseman / MF • Has played in 43 career matches with 22 starts scoring two goals with three assists.
26     Kelsey Raiman  / D • A first team all-city, all-region, all-league and all-state selection as a senior after scoring three goals at Washburn Rural High School.
33     Keeley Lambeth / MF • Has scored six career goals with three assists and 15 points in 42 career games at Washburn.
99     Lauren Henry  / MF • A member of the Kansas Olympic Development state team 2004, 2005 and 2007 and regional pool play in 2005 and 2007.

Blue Notes:
• The Lady Blues have never faced an opponent from the Pac West Conference.
• The Lady Blues are 5-0 all-time in their first match of the season.

Up next: Washburn will continue to be on the road to the start the 2008 season as they will take on Metro State on Sept. 5 and then Regis on Sept. 7. On Sept. 10, the Lady Blues will take on Central Oklahoma in Wichita, Kan., at Newman University before opening the home slate with a Sept. 13 date with Central Missouri in Yager Stadium.