As Minnesota Duluth striker Maureen Stormont garners more and more attention every year from the media and in the form of preseason and postseason honors, opponents are taking notice.
The newspaper clippings and awards are always nice, but it’s the physical altercations on the pitch that Stormont appreciates the most.
The sticks and stones only make her stronger.
“Every year it’s been a gradual increase. I’m kind of odd in that I enjoy more of that physical attention,” Stormont said. “I like when girls are pushing me over and I like when they are pressuring me. I feel like it makes me play to my highest capabilities. I enjoy it. I’m OK with it.”
Stormont, the program’s third all-time leading goal-scorer and fourth in points, will see more than enough attention in 2014 as a senior seeking two program records and a return trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year from Stillwater, Minn., is 32 points shy of tying the school mark of 125 set by Jenny Warrick from 1998-01, and 13 goals away from matching the 52 Warrick scored during her career.
On her way to leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA quarterfinals last season, Stormont set UMD single-season records for points (43) and goals (18). She was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Central Region first team, the Daktronics All-Region second team and the All-NSIC first team.
“She has a huge target on her back,” said Greg Cane, now in his 21st season as UMD head coach. “The fact of the matter is, if she has the season she did last year or the year before, she is going to become the career points leader at UMD and that’s the way it should end up.”
Stormont insists she isn’t interested in becoming a statistical leader at UMD, though she did acknowledge that by topping those marks, she could put the Bulldogs in the best position of reaching their ultimate goal of another deep run through the NCAA tournament.
“Definitely those numbers would help us,” Stormont said. “I’ll try to score as much as I can, but also I have to perform and get assists, too, because there are plenty of other people out there who can finish as I did last year.”
One teammate Stormont believes can score is senior captain and midfielder Jennifer Smith, who is also approaching a career mark at UMD for assists. She needs 11 to move her into a tie for second all-time while 14 would tie her with Nicole Pietz (2000-03) at the top with 33.
“Jennifer has a tremendous view of the field,” Stormont said. “She has a wide range in terms of playing balls and shooting and even making runs, even if she doesn’t get the ball. She definitely has the motivation to be an attacker, so I think that makes her special.”
Gone is the Bulldogs second-leading scorer from 2013 in Dani Potter, who posted 12 goals and a team-high eight assists. Her offensive contributions will have to be made up via unproven scorers such as senior midfielder Katie Schneider or senior captain/midfielder Hannah Keil, or through fresh faces such as freshman midfielder Emily Fleissner of Duluth Denfeld or freshman forward Hailey Hoff, two-time News Tribune All-Player of the Year from Hermantown. The Bulldogs also added a sophomore transfer from the University of Minnesota in Sheridan Reiners, who scored a goal and two assists for the Gophers in 2011.
In the end, however, Stormont will be the key to UMD’s attack, Cane said.
“Maureen is the tip of the spear, there’s no question about it,” he said. “That’s the way we played last year and teams feared that.”
UMD returns four senior defenders in Megan Helberg, Riley Allen, Ana Zdechlik and Kelli Klun of Duluth East, plus its record-tying junior goaltender, Marissa Rosa, meaning the team should “be able to lock things down pretty well,” Cane said.
Rosa was in goal for all 23 games in 2013. She posted seven shutouts, held 11 other opponents to just one goal and tied Michele Filipczak’s record for most wins in a season at 17. She is also seventh all-time in saves.
Senior Kehtel chasing record
for St. Scholastica women
St. Scholastica senior forward Kelsey Kehtel of Duluth East is seeking to add another career mark to her resume. Kehtel, the three-time Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, already has scored more career goals (70) than any other Saint, and been credited with the most game-winners (19) in school history. Now she needs eight more points to tie Robin Johnson’s mark of 168 from 2005-08.
Her 30 goals as a junior set a school single-season record and her 68 total points were the second-most in team history.
“Obviously we’re going to lean on her a little bit to score,” said Saints head coach Dave Reyelts, whose team went 0-2 in Texas last weekend to start the season. “We return a lot of good players.”
In addition to Kehtel, second-leading scorer Leah Hamm, a junior from Duluth Denfeld, and senior midfielder Casey Mitchell, the team’s fourth leading scorer, are back.
Though they have won the last 10 UMAC titles, the Saints haven’t won an NCAA Division III tournament game since making their first appearance in 2007. Reyelts hopes by having junior goalkeeper Kelsey Reeves and sophomore defender Alexi Bopray back healthy it will help snap that six-game losing streak.
St. Scholastica fell 3-2 in overtime to No. 2 Wisconsin-Whitewater in the first round.
“Each year we seem to get a little bit closer,” Reyelts said. “We’d like to advance. We’d like to win a couple of those games. We’re no longer satisfied with just being close in those NCAA games.”
MacLean takes over
UWS women’s program
Duluth native Morgan MacLean was hired by Wisconsin-Superior in mid-August to take over the program from Melissa Hanson, who resigned Aug. 1.
The former St. Scholastica men’s and women’s assistant coach inherits a team on short notice that went 4-15-1 a year ago. Before MacLean was hired, the Yellowjackets were picked to finish last in the WIAC in part because they also lost their leading scorer from the past three seasons and their co-captains from 2013.
UWS does return junior midfielder Katelyn Adams of Two Harbors, the team’s second-leading scorer last season, in addition to sophomore midfielder Shelby Coombs. The two had eight and six points, respectively, last year.
College Men
Saints surprised to be
conference favorites
St. Scholastica men’s coach Barry Chastey expressed surprise that the Saints were a unanimous pick to win the UMAC title.
The Saints, who dropped their first two games last season, have won four straight UMAC titles, are on a 61-game unbeaten streak in regular-season conference play and scored an NCAA Division III record 113 goals in 2013. However, the program’s all-time leading scorer, Joe Watt, is among those gone.
That’s a big hole for the Saints to fill.
“I was kind of surprised we were ranked No. 1 because we lost all those guys,” Chastey said. “We certainly hope to go out and repeat what we’ve done. Our squad is very different. We graduated a lot of guys. We brought in a ton of guys. The way we go about it may be a little different.”
In addition to Watt, the Saints must replace their starting goaltender and three starting defenders. They do return Andrew Jenkins, the 2013 UMAC Offensive Player of the Year and leading goal-scorer (33) in Division III last season. Juniors Tom Corcoran (27 goals) and Sean Morgan (22 assists) are also back in the midfield.
UWS seek WIAC repeat
The Yellowjackets are coming off their first conference tournament championship in school history and a third-place finish in the WIAC regular season.
The program is in the midst of its best three-year stretch, having won 36 games over the past three seasons. That total could have been higher, if not for six overtime losses a year ago.
Picked to finish third in the league after going 12-6-3 overall and 2-1-1 in the WIAC in 2013, UWS returns senior forward Brian Grand. He tied for the WIAC lead in goals (9) last year, while leading the conference in assists (7) and points (25). Grand scored the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over Dubuque on Saturday to lift UWS to 1-1 on the season.
