Soccer To Host Undefeated Stout Tuesday

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Posted: Monday, October 11, 2004

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire women's soccer team will look to move above .500 for the first time since their season opening win as they battle unbeaten UW-Stout Tuesday afternoon at the Bollinger Fields.

The Blugolds are fresh off a 2-1 victory against UW-La Crosse, who came into the match with a record of 8-2-1. The win moved Eau Claire to 6-6-0 on the season and 2-2-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Blugolds are currently tied with La Crosse and Whitewater for fifth place in the WIAC with four points.

The Blue Devils have yet to lose a game this season, posting a 10-0-1 mark. They are a perfect 3-0 in WIAC play, tied for second in the conference with six points.

Eau Claire will look to the offensive tandem of Marcia Foltz (Jr.-Madison/Memorial) and Becky Sitter (Fr.-Waupaca) to provide the firepower against the Blue Devils. Foltz leads the team with 14 points on the season, including a team-best six goals. Sitter has five goals and 12 points on the year and had a big week last week, prompting head coach Sean Yengo to nominate her for conference player-of-the-week honors. Sitter scored the game-winning goal in the Blugolds' victory over La Crosse and also assisted on Foltz's goal, which got the scoring started. The first-year Blugold also tallied Eau Claire's lone goal in a 4-1 loss to River Falls earlier in the week.

Blugold goalie Annie Scharenbroich (So.-White Bear Lake, MN/South) earned Yengo's nomination for defensive player-of-the-week after saving nine shots against La Crosse, including a penalty shot in the late moments of the game to preserve the win. Scharenbroich has played over 1,000 minutes in goal this season, allowing 21 goals and making 51 saves.

A trio of Blue Devils leads a potent offense that has outscored their opponents 58-4 this season. Kelly Stolarczyk, Shannon Hermes and Michelle Lizotte are all enjoying fine seasons and have helped Stout average just over five goals per game. Stolarczyk leads the team with 13 goals and nine assists, good for a team-best 35 points. Hermes has tallied 15 assists on the year and eight goals for 31 points while Lizotte has 10 goals and eight assists for 28 points.

Blue Devil Melissa Ballweg has been phenomenal in goal this season, allowing just four goals in nearly 850 minutes. She has a goal against average of just 0.43 and has also made 46 saves this year.

The history between the Blugolds and Blue Devils dates back to 1991 and until recently has been dominated by Eau Claire. The Blugolds have an 11-1-1 all-time record over Stout, but are 0-1-1 in the last two seasons. The Blue Devils captured their first ever victory over Eau Claire last October, when they captured a 2-1 win in Menomonie.

The Blugolds will look to regain their dominance over undefeated Stout on Tuesday. The match is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Bollinger Fields.