Washburn Weekly Notes
Game One
Date:    Friday, Aug. 28
Time:    5 p.m. CST
Field:    CSM Soccer Stadium
Live Stats:    Through csmorediggers.com
Web site:    csmorediggers.com
Series Record:    First meeting

Game Two
Date:    Saturday, Aug. 29
Time:    2 p.m. CST
Field:     Rawlings Soccer Complex
Live Stats:    n/a
Web site:    goThunderWolves.com
Series Record:    First meeting

Setting the Scene:
For the fifth time in the seven years of the Washburn soccer program, the Lady Blues will begin the season on the road as they travel to Colorado to take on the Colorado School of Mines on Friday, Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. CST in Golden, Colo., before traveling to Pueblo, Colo., to face the Colorado State-Pueblo ThunderWolves the following afternoon. Washburn will actually play their first six matches on the road not playing in Yager Stadium until Sept. 24 when they open a four-match homestand.

Game One | Colorado School of Mines
Team notes: The Orediggers are in their first year of existence having recorded 12-win seasons in both 2007 and 2008. They return seven starters off of last season's team.
About the coach: Head Coach Fred Kohlenstein is his fifth season with the Orediggers and his 30th overall of head coaching. He has a 36-31-8 record at CSM and he is 428-200-56.
Series history with the Orediggers:  The match will be the first meeting between the two schools
About the Orediggers: Colorado School of Mines' Kayla Mitchell and Liz Oba have been named to the 2009 Pre-Season All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Team, as announced today by the RMAC. Mitchell was one of two unanimous selections.Mitchell, a 5'3” senior forward from Ontario, Ore. (Ontario H.S.), scored 22 goals; second most in the RMAC during the 2008 season. A First Team All-RMAC selection, Mitchell tallied 47 points and scored six game-winning goals, ranking her third in conference in both categories. A First Team Daktroncis All-Central Region and a Second Team NSCAA/adidas All-Central Region pick, Mitchell established new CSM individual single-season records for goals, points, shots and shots on goal. Mitchell was selected as the 2008 Women's Soccer Academic Player of the Year in the RMAC and also earned First Team NSCAA/adidas College Scholar All-West Region honors and Third Team NSCAA/adidas College Scholar (College Division) All-American accolades.A 5'5” junior midfielder from Pueblo, Colo. (Pueblo West H.S.), Oba earned First Team All-RMAC recognition during the 2008 season. CSM's career leader in assists (10), Oba tied the individual single-season record as she tallied five assists in 2008. A Second Team NSCAA/adidas All-Central Region pick, Oba scored three goals including three game-winners. The Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team earned its first bid in program history to the NCAA Division II NCAA Tournament in 2008. Mines made its second consecutive appearance in the RMAC Tournament in just its third season as a member of the RMAC. The Orediggers (12-6-3) tied the single-season record for wins and broke team records for goals in a season (45) and goal per game in a season (2.14). The Orediggers, tied for third with Fort Lewis in the 2009 RMAC Pre-Season Coaches Poll.

Game Two | Colorado State-Pueblo ThunderWolves
Team notes: The ThunderWolves finished the 2008 season with a 9-8-2 record and a 7-5-1 mark in the RMAC and they will be under the direction of new coach Janet Cassidy. CSU-P returns seven starters from last year and 15 lettermen.
About the coach: Janet Cassidy is entering her first season as CSU-Pueblo's head women's soccer coach.
At Oxnard College, Cassidy coached the Condors for one campaign, leading a turnaround from just two wins in 2007 to a respectable 8-9-2 mark in 2008.  She also doubled the team roster at Oxnard from 12 members in 2007 to 24 members in 2008.
Cassidy, who graduated from San Diego State University in 2001 with a degree in fine arts, is the third head coach in the 16-year history of the women's soccer program at CSU-Pueblo. 
Series history with Colorado State-Pueblo:  The match will be the first between the two schools.
About the ThunderWolves: COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The CSU-Pueblo women's soccer team was picked to finish sixth in the RMAC, according to the women's soccer coaches poll released Tuesday.
The ThunderWolves, which finished 9-8-2 in 2008, bring back a starkly different team in 2009.  The Pack will feature a brand new group of forwards up front, a new keeper, and return back such strong defensive figures as Kiley Draper (Jr., River Falls, Wisc.) and Kara Morton (Jr., Thornton, Colo.). The ThunderWolves also welcome its new coach into the fray.  Janet Cassidy came to the ThunderWolves from Oxnard (Calif.) Junior College and plans to help the Pack compete for an RMAC title this season.

2009 Lady Blues Soccer Preview:
Coming off a second NCAA playoff appearance in the last three years, the Lady Blues will look to make it three of the last four years as they enter the 2009 season.
Washburn returns 12 players who saw action last season including eight who started at one point during the season. However, the Lady Blues will have to replace seven talented seniors who led the program to four straight winning seasons.
“We are going to miss the players who are not here anymore,” seventh-year head coach Tim Collins said. “But that's part of college athletics is to build on what former players have put together and I believe the returning players and the incoming freshmen are ready to create their own legacy adding to the great careers those seven seniors had.”
The Lady Blues finished the 2008 season with a 15-7-2 overall and a 10-5-1 conference mark hitting the second round of the NCAA playoffs.
“We are ready to get the season started,” Collins said. “We have great leadership in our upperclass men and a great mix of youth and experience which will benefit us this season.”
Up front, the Lady Blues will have only one returner who produced any points for the team last season in senior Ashley Taylor. Taylor scored seven goals, which tied for third on the team with five assists for 19 points. Sophomore Morgan Barrett saw action in two of the final four matches of the season while Lauren Lawless looks to return from an injury to hit the pitch for her senior season.
The Lady Blues will need to replace four-time first team all-MIAA pick and former All-American Jessica Mainz who finished her career with 21 points on six goals and a school-record nine assists as a senior. Also gone is the team's leading point-producer in Danielle Ayala who had nine goals with eight assists as well as fellow senior Manon Englehardt who had two goals and one assist.
“We will have a different look this season than in the past with out Jess being up front,” Collins said. “But I am excited about the potential of the newcomers who will be coming in and to see them gel with the returners up front.”
The Lady Blues will have a quartet of new players join the mix this season as redshirt freshmen Kelsey Stauffer will be joined by Brianna Ament and Tia Stovall.
Stauffer earned all-conference honors during her prep career. Ament was an first team all-state pick and named her team's most valuable player at Rossevelt High School in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Stovall earned first team all-state, all-region, all-league and all-metro honors at Maize High School scoring 33 goals as a senior with 15 assists and was a Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year nominee. She finished her high school career with 104 goals and 71 assists.
“Our freshmen will have every opportunity to come in and compete for playing time and they will push our returners this season,” Collins said.

Midfielders
The Lady Blues will have the most experienced group returning as five players saw action last season with the only loss being four-year starter Traci Nigg.
Sophomore Lauren Henry, who earned second team all-MIAA honors last season scored seven goals with three assists for 17 points. Her goal total was the third-best by a freshman in school history.
Also returning is a pair of seniors in Keely Lambeth and Angela Wiseman. Lambeth scored a goal last season while starting 21 of 24 matches and Wiseman started 16 matches last season.
Juniors Markie Gallagher saw action in all 24 matches and Brittany Tracz played in 23 matches.
“Our midfielders are going to be involved in the scoring end of the field,” Collins said. “They are also going to responsible for controlling the middle of the field as well and helping out on defense when needed.”
Brandy Hirsch and Kyleigh Olmstead redshirted last season.
Incoming freshmen Ashley Grunder, Lindsey Lambert, Stefanie Stuever and Leah Talley will all compete for time this season. Grunder earned honorable mention all-state honors. Stuever was an all-region and a all-state first team pick.
“The new players will have a say in how good of a team we can be this season,” Collins said. “They are as good as group of freshmen that we have brought in as any we've had and if they adjust and mature to the collegiate game as fast as we hope for them to do we will be exciting to watch.”
The Lady Blues defenders will have three of their four starters returning from last year after the loss of honorable mention All-American pick Lisa Fahey who started all 87 matches of her Washburn career. Also gone is Kaydi Hooker who also started all 87 matches of her career earning all-MIAA honorable mention honors four times.
A trio of juniors in Danielle Sicard, Ashley Hynek and Jordan Shefte started a combined 48 matches with Shefte starting every match of the season. Hynek started the last six matches of the season after taking over for Sicard who suffered a knee injury against Southwest Baptist. After a successful surgery, Sicard is ready to go this fall after being cleared to play in the spring with the team. Sicard was named second team all-MIAA last season.
“The three returners will have to be the backbone of the defense,” Collins said.
Redshirt freshman Kelsey Raiman will compete for time after sitting out the season. She will be joined by incoming Whitney Drane. Drane was an all-region and all-state pick at Washburn Rural High School.

Goalkeepers
Junior Ashley Klone is the only goalkeeper on the Lady Blues' roster this season as she started 14 of 15 matches recording a 1.22 goal against average in more than 1,400 minutes in goal. The junior captain picked up 65 saves during the season with a save percentage of .774.
“Klone showed great improvement from her freshman season to last year and from last year to this spring and we look for her to continue that improvement into her junior season.”
Should the need for a back-up arise, either Danielle Sicard or Markie Gallagher would be called upon to fill the goalkeeper duties.

The Season
“Our conference again will be a battle,” Collins said. “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 open
The remainder of the non-conference schedule includes a trip to Colorado to face the Colorado School of Mines in the season opener on Aug. 28 and Colorado State-Pueblo the following day in Pueblo. The Lady Blues will return to Kansas to face Newman in Wichita, Kan. on Sept. 7 before opening MIAA play with Central Missouri on Sept. 12. Less than two weeks later, the Lady Blues will take on the Jennies again in their home opener on Sept. 24.
Washburn's remaining non-conference game will be on Sept. 30 in Yager Stadium against Rockhurst.
The MIAA had four teams reach the NCAA Tournament last season in Central Missouri, Nebraska-Omaha, Truman and Washburn. The Bulldogs reached the NCAA national quarterfinals last season.

Blue Notes:
Season Openers: The Lady Blues are 5-1 in their previous six season openers with the lone loss coming in the 2008 opener in Hawaii to Hawaii Pacific in a 1-0 loss.
Oh Henry: Lauren Henry enters her sophomore season with seven goals and three assists for 17 points after her first season in a Lady Blues uniform. The 17 points was the second-best total by a freshman in school history as well as her seven goals.
Taylor Made: Senior Ashley Taylor is the team's leading returning scorer this season coming off her seven goal, five assist campaign from her junior season. She has scored 12 goals with 14 assists in her career having played in 66 matches with 30 starts including 20 last season.
Klone in goal: Junior goalkeeper Ashley Klone  will need to find a way to stay healthy this season as she is the only keeper on the Lady Blues' roster. She has compiled a 14-8-3 record in net for Washburn with eight shutouts and a goal against average of 0.96.
Sicard back in action: Junior Danielle Sicard defender is penciled in as a defender after missing the final five matches of the season after suffering a knee injury. She earned second team all-MIAA honors despite missing nearly a quarter of the season.

Lady Blues Soccer History:
Washburn is 60-43-21 (.560) all-time in its seventh season of competing. In MIAA play, the Lady Blues are 39-30-16 (.537). In home matches, the Lady Blues are 27-16-9 and they are 26-22-9 on the road. In matches on neutral sites, the Lady Blues are 7-5-3.

Up Next:
The Lady Blues will return to Kansas following the game with the ThunderWolves and have a week to prepare for Newman in the first meeting between the two schools on Sept. 7. Following the match with the Jets, the Lady Blues will open MIAA play with the top two teams in the MIAA preseason coaches poll in predicted champion Central Missouri on Sept. 12 in Warrensburg and then they will take on Truman on Sept. 17. Following the match with the Bulldogs, they will take on Missouri Western on Sept. 19 in St. Joseph before taking on Central Missouri again for the second time in 12 days on Sept. 24 in the home opener beginning a four-match home stand which will include battles against MIAA foes Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern and a non-conference clash against Rockhurst on Sept. 30.