Opening Notes• A new era in Washburn soccer will begin as
Chris Jones will lead the Ichabods on to the field on Sept. 3 when they open the 2015 season against Minot State in Yager Stadium.
• The Ichabods will follow up the match with the Beavers with Southwest Minnesota State on Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. in Yager Stadium.
• The Ichabods are 4-7-1 all-time in season openers.
• The Ichabods were picked 12th in the MIAA preseason coaches poll.
'Bod's and Ends• Washburn's last win in a season opener was on Aug. 26, 2006 in a 3-1 win over Minnesota-Duluth at the Central Missouri Classic in Warrensburg.
• The Ichabods are 0-8-1 since that win and have lost their last seven openers with a tie on Aug. 25, 2007 with Central Oklahoma in Wichita Falls, Texas.
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Emily Stauffer is the Ichabods' returning goal scorer with two from last season.
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Sara Specht led the Ichabods with three assists last season.
• Other returning goal scorers from last season include honorable mention all-MIAA pick
Cadence Bourne (1),
Bailey Wobig (1) and
Sophia Sabala (1).
• In goal,
Kaitlin Minnich played 65 minutes last season recording four saves against Emporia State.
Noting Minot State• Emilie Rebelo leads the Beavers and was named to the All-NSIC first team in 2014 and started in all 19 games for Minot State. She currently ranks third in the school record books for points (30), goals (12) and assists (6). Rebelo led the Beavers last season in shots on goal with 24.
• Kristin Long started in 14 games for the Beavers, playing in all 19 in her breakout season. She finished the season with 11 points, four goals and three assists all good enough for career highs. Long will look to continue her success from last season.
• The Beavers roster is full of veterans including three year starter Gemma Biasetto who ranks in the top ten in school history with five goals and 12 points despite playing 19 of her 47 games at goalie. Defense will be anchored by seniors Breanne Hatfield and Haley Lolmaugh who both started all 19 games last season and have a total of 95 games of experience between the two.
• The Beavers return 21 players from its 2014 team that went 10-7-2 overall and 9-5-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Beavers earned a spot in the NSIC Tournament for the third straight season.
Series history with the Minot State• The Ichabods and the Beavers have never met on the pitch.
Noting Southwest Minnesota State• The Mustangs were picked eighth in the NSIC preseason coaches poll.
• SMSU senior forward Miranda Cadena and senior defender Megan Kilroy were named "Players to Watch" in the NSIC.
• Cadena was named all-region and all-conference last season leading SMSU with 13 goals and 29 points. She holds the school record with 32 career goals and ranks second all-time in program history with 75 points. Kilroy is a two-time all-region and two-time all-conference honoree and has helped an SMSU defense record 14 combined shutouts the last two seasons.
• SMSU finished 10-8-1 overall last season, including a fifth place finish in the NSIC with a record of 9-5-1.
Series history with Southwest Minnesota• The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Mustangs 2-0-0.
• The two teams have not played since Aug. 27, 2006 in a 2-0 Ichabod win ov er the Mustangs in Marshall, Minn.
• Washburn won 4-2 on Sept. 5, 2004 in Topeka.
• Overall the Ichabods have outscored the Mustangs 6-2 in the two meetings.
Last meeting with Southwest Minnesota(Sept. 5, 2004) -- TOPEKA - The Washburn Lady Blues opened their 2004 season with a 4-2 win over regional foe Southwest Minnesota State at the Washburn Soccer Complex.
The Lady Blues' sophomore forward Jenna Lawless scored 14 minutes into the match on an assist from sophomore midfielder Anna Fahey. It did not take long for the Lady Blues to score again as Lawless connected again on an assist from Jamie Francis at the 15:22 mark. The 36 seconds between goals was the fastest back-to-back goal in school history topping the previous mark of 1:23 set in 2003.
Sophomore forward Jolene Silovsky scored her first goal in a Lady Blues uniform at the 29:21 mark on an assist from Lawless.
The Mustangs would cut the lead to 3-2. The final score of the game was on Silovsky's second goal of the afternoon as she scored right before the final horn unassisted.
Lawless tied a (then) school record with her five individual points.
About head coach Chris Jones•
Chris Jones is 0-0-0 in his first season at Washburn and is only the second coach in the program's history since 2003.
• Jones spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Fort Hays State where the Tigers went 20-13-5 coaching 11 all-MIAA picks.
• Prior to joining the Tigers, he was president and coach of the University of Oklahoma's men's club team.
Washburn soccer history• Washburn is 90-114-32 (.449) all-time in its 13th season of action.
• In MIAA play, the Ichabods are 58-72-21 (.460).
• In home matches, the Ichabods are 46-43-15 (.514).
• On the road, the Ichabods are 37-63-13 (.385).
• In matches on neutral sites, the Ichabods are 7-8-4 (.474).
Up next• The Ichabods will face Rockhurst on Sept. 9 in Kansas City before returning home on Sept. 16 to take on Newman wrapping up non-conference play.
• The Ichabods will open MIAA play at home in Yager Stadium against Emporia State on Sept. 18 and follow that with a match against Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 20.
