Football

November 15, 1999

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn - The final score made it look worse than it really was, but this offered little consolation to the UW-Stout football team which lost its fifth straight game Sunday, Nov. 14. The Blue Devils fell to Southwest State University, 43-23, in the final game of the NSIC/WIAC Border Battle at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Southwest State got on the board first when Tyler Engquist hooked up with Corey Walker for a 43-yard touchdown pass. The Mustangs missed the extra point.

Southwest would add three more points on their next possession when Nate Krull made good on a 26-yard field goal, giving his team a 9-0 advantage.

The Mustangs’ defense shut down the Blue Devils in the first quarter. Stout gained only three yards rushing and 11 yards passing.

The Blue Devils (2-8) were able to break through late in the second quarter. Marty Goryl (Sr, Greenfield) marched the Stout offense 96 yards in one-minute, 57-seconds, capping the nine play drive off with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Diaz (Sr, Cottage Grove).

Southwest State (6-4) wasted no time getting on the board in the second half. Ken Sather returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for the touchdown, giving the Mustangs a 16-7 lead early in the third.

The teams exchanged punts for the remainder of the third quarter, but just six seconds into the fourth, Southwest State struck again. Ryan Rambacher rumbled for 39-yards, scoring his team’s third touchdown of the evening, but it was Stout that would score on the Mustangs’ extra point attempt. Billy Busch (Sr, Dickeyville) blocked the PAT kick, and Tony Beckham (So, Ocala, Fla.) recovered the ball and returned it for the two-point conversion with Stout trailing, 22-9.

From there, the Blue Devils came storming back. Stout took over at the Mustang 17-yard line after Steve Miller (Jr, Lodi) recovered Josh Schleusner’s fumble. Goryl completed a 14-yard pass to John Bekish (Sr, Blaine, Minn.) to get Stout to a first and goal situation at the five-yard line. On the next play, Diaz hauled in his second TD of the night, trimming the Mustangs’ lead to six.

Southwest State scored on its next possession, but Stout answered. With 3:05 remaining in the game, Aaron Johnson (So, Clear Lake) powered his way into the end zone from two yards out. His score was set up by a 74-yard completion from Goryl to Josh Antoni (Fr, Holmen).

The Blue Devils, trailing by only six points, held the Mustangs on their next possession and got the ball back at the Southwest State 22-yard line with a 2:31 remaining in regulation. But three incomplete passes followed by a sack snuffed out Stout’s hopes for a comeback.

The Mustangs recovered the ball on downs, and on their third play from scrimmage, Schleusner scored, putting the game out of reach for the Blue Devils.

Stout would get one more crack at it, but on the Blue Devils first play, Peter Suggs picked off Goryl’s pass and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown. The score increased Southwest State’s lead to the final 43-23 score.

Goryl threw for 300 yards, his fourth 300-yard game of the season, but Stout’s running game was nonexistant. The Blue Devils gained minus three yards on the ground. Diaz led Stout’s receivers with 132 yards, and Antoni added 113.

On the other side of the things, Southwest State racked up 205 rushing yards. Schleusner led the Mustangs ground attack with 120 yards.

Defensively, Jeff Opichka (Sr, Hartford), Jaime Spielman (So, Menomonie), and Chad Reichelt (Jr, Appleton) led Stout with 15, 14, and 10 tackles respectively.

Men's Cross Country

November 13, 1999

ROCK ISLAND, Ill - When UW-Stout's Tim Hamill (Sr, Brookfield/Central HS) decided to redshirt last year's cross country season, his goal was to give himself an extra year to qualify to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.

Hamill achieved that goal, Saturday, Nov. 13, by placing 18th at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regionals at Highland Springs Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill.

Hamill, who missed two of the first three varsity meets due to injury, was the final qualifier when he clocked a time of 25-minutes, 49-seconds, edging out UW-Eau Claire's Kyle Hansen by one second.

Hamill is not a stranger to national competition, having earned All-America awards on the track.

The top five teams qualify to the national meet, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20 at Oshkosh, and the top six individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the national meet.

As a team, Stout finished 10th with 258 points. North Central College took the team title. The were followed by UW-Stevens Point, UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater and Eau Claire. All four teams qualified to the national meet.

Eric Hanson (Sr, Winona, Minn) placed 45th (25:49), Bryan Ott (Jr, Monroe) was 62nd (26:58), Dave Huber (Fr, Mendota Heights, Minn) 66th (27:03), Jason Donovan (Jr, Beloit) 67th (27:05), and Alex Anderson (So, Faribault, Minn) 87th (27:53).

Women's Cross Country

November 13, 1999

ROCK ISLAND, Ill - The UW-Stout women's cross country team closed out their season with a 13th place finish at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regionals at Rock Island, Ill.

Amy Arndt (So, Lakeville, Minn) led the Blue Devils with a 37th place finish, coming in at 19-minutes, 19-seconds. Jen Bahr (Sr, Forest Lake, Minn) was 43rd (19:31).

Ellen Everson (Jr, Blair) continues to show a late season improvement, finishing 61st (19:49) and taking more than five minutes off her early season times. Lisa Sorvala (Fr, New Brighton, Minn) was 83rd (20:08), Tanya Miller (Sr, Green Bay) 85th (20:10), Katie Kuffel (Sr, Minneapolis, Minn) 101st (20:27) and Meredith Nordberg (So, Bloomington, Minn) 164th (22:20).

UW-Oshkosh won the meet, while UW-La Crosse (2nd), UW-Stevens Point (4th) and UW-Whitewater (5th) qualified to the national meet next weekend at Oshkosh. The top five teams qualify, as do the top nine individuals not on qualifying teams.

Men's Ice Hockey

November 13, 1999

MENOMONIE - After allowing St. Scholastica two second period goals, UW-Stout managed to tie the game early in the third period, but the Saints got the last say, scoring with less than two minutes remaining to down the Blue Devils, 3-2, Saturday, Nov. 13 at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

With the Saints (2-3, 1-1) leading 2-1 at the end of the second period, Stout came storming out of the locker room to start the third. Shane Maher (Jr, Forest Lake, Minn) put the puck between the pipes only 2-minutes, 26-seconds into the period. Brent Cronk (Fr, Calgary, Alberta) received the assist.

The next 16 minutes proved to be even, but the Saints went on the power play with two minutes, 18 seconds remaining, and 39 seconds later Kevin Kuklinski got the winning score. Previous to the goal, Stout (2-5-1, 0-3-1) had allowed only three goals on 46 power play opportunities.

The Blue Devils got on the board first when Cullen Flaherty (Fr, Duluth, Minn) scored on the power play just under two minutes into the second period. Tony Sikich (Fr, Apple Valley, Minn) got the assist.

The Saints' Scott Forest scored five minutes later and Kuklinski scored his first goal of the game midway through the stanza with the Saints shorthanded.

Both Stout's Justin Wiskie (Fr, Janesville) and the Saints' Kaleb Christianson had 27 saves.

Stout will take a week off from conference play when they travel to St. Thomas Friday, Nov. 19 and St. Mary's Saturday, Nov. 20.

November 12, 1999

MENOMONIE - UW-Superior scored a goal in each period to hand UW-Stout a 3-0 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) loss Friday, Nov. 12 at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

The Yellowjackets' (4-1, 1-0) Clint Johnson scored with just more than a minute remaining in the first to open the scoring. Superior came at the Blue Devils (2-4-1, 0-2-1) hard in the second period, outshooting Stout, 17-9. Blue Devils goalie Ben Plester (So, Chemainus, BC) turned away 16 shots, several in the period that came in flurries.

After allowing a goal five minutes into the second period, Plester did not allow another goal until late in the game when Superior closed out the scoring with eight seconds remaining. On the night, Plester recorded 32 saves, as Superior outshot Stout, 35-27.

The Blue Devils attacked in the third period, holding a 12-10 shots on goal advantage in the stanza.

Stout again played the power play kill to near perfection, stopping all six of Superior's opportunities. On the season, Stout has allowed only three goals on 41 opponent's power play opportunities.

Men's Basketball

November 11, 1999

MENOMONIE - UW-Stout jumped out to a 57-24 halftime lead and never looked back as they blew out an all-star team from the Bahamas, 105-49, Thursday, Nov. 11 at Johnson Fieldhouse.

Ben Kuepers (Sr, Dickeyville) scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half and Jeremy Leibfried (Sr, Dickeyville) had 11 of his 17 points in the first stanza as the Blue Devils were able to clear their bench in both halves.

Midway through the first, Stout built a 41-12 lead and just kept building on the lead throughout the second. The Blue Devils forced 30 turnovers, and owned a 55-37 lead on the boards.

Dave Loewe (So, Hiles) finished with 15 points for the Devils, and Aaron Vachowiak (Jr, Wausau) added 10.

Ricardo Smith led the Bahama team with 18 points.

Stout will get their season underway for real Friday, Nov. 19 when they host the Best Western Holiday Manor Tip-Off Classic. Augsburg will play defending tournament champion Cardinal Stritch at 5 p.m. and Stout will play Suomi College at 7 p.m. The consolation game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20 and the championship at 7 p.m.

Soccer

November 12, 1999

MENOMONIE - Two record breaking UW-Stout soccer players have been named to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) All-Conference Women's Soccer Team.

Nellie Sivertsen (Fr, River Falls) and Becky Howard (So, Wauwatosa) were named after writing their names into the Blue Devil record book.

Sivertsen, a forward, tied the individual record for most goals in a season with 14 and twice scored hat tricks in individual games. When she scored three goals against Viterbo College Sept. 21, it was the first time a Stout player had three goals in a single game. The second time Sivertsen recorded a hat trick, this time against UW-Superior Oct. 2, she had a single game record of 12 shots.

Sivertsen was fifth in the league in points and goals scored.

Howard, a midfielder, was no slouch in scoring herself, tallying seven goals and a single season record 11 assists. Howard set a single game record when she had five assists against UW-Superior, which is a 1999 NCAA season high. Howard finished second in the conference in assists and was ninth in total points (25).

Howard was named the WIAC player of the week Oct. 9 after her performances against Superior and UW-River Falls where she tallied 10 points on two goals and six assists.

"This is a significant honor, not just for Becky and Nellie, but for the entire program." coach Dave Morris said, " Nellie is a clinical finisher, but her ability to set up her teammates makes her especially dangerous. Becky is such a creative force in midfield, she's really the backbone of the team.

"Both women are so entertaining to watch. They are what soccer is all about."

The Blue Devils finished the season at 6-12, overall, 4-4 in the WIAC.

Updated: November 15, 1999