DULUTH, Minn. – The Saints soccer teams travel to St. Paul this Thursday to kick off the regular season, taking on Macalester College. Both games will be held at Macalester Stadium. The women's game starts at 5 p.m. with the men to follow at 7 p.m.

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Men's Soccer

The Records (2010):
St. Scholastica (17-4-2, 12-0-2 UMAC)
Macalester (14-5-1, 8-2-0 MIAC)

Last Action: The Saints finished last season with an undefeated UMAC record and clinched a berth to the NCAA Tournament after winning the UMAC Championship. The Saints played a tough match against Augsburg College in the first round of the tournament, but came up just short, losing 0-1 in a match that went into double overtime.

St. Scholastica Saints Notes: After a very successful 2010 season, the Saints look to keep in stride and continue their winning ways in 2011. This may prove to be a tough task as the Saints lost nine seniors from last year's team, including four of the top five leading scorers in St. Scholastica history. Toby Peter (Spalt, Germany/J.S. Bach Gymnasium) (102 points), Cody Sveiven (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids HS) (93), Jermaine Dacres (Nottingham, England/Haywood School) (84) and Dustin James (Superior, Wis./Superior HS) (55) have all departed and left pretty big shoes for the young Saints squad to fill. The Saints are still picked to win the UMAC and will look to do so on the shoulders of their senior leaders, goalkeeper Sam Reed (Eastbourne, England/Causeway School), and midfielder Brandon Stemwedel (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS). Reed is two shutouts away from a new Saints record, and Stemwedel is two-time all-conference and led the UMAC in assists last season.

Macalester Scots Notes: The Scots are coming off a great season of their own, winning the regular season MIAC title, and also making the NCAA playoffs for the second straight year. Macalester lost in the first round of the tournament to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 2-0. Looking to continue last year's success, the Scots return four of their top five scorers. Junior, Taylor Rasmussen led the team in scoring last season with 25 points. Sophomore, Chris Kartheiser was third on the team with ten points, senior Ryan Marshall had eight and senior Reid Usedom had six. The team lost one of their big scorers from last year in Stephen Murphy-Logue (20 points) and one of their starting goalkeepers, Mark Mullaney, who had a 6-4 record last season. However, Matt Weyer, the other starting goalkeeper returns as a senior, after a great season, posting five shutouts in 2010 on his way to an 8-1-1 record.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Macalester: 3-5-1)
The Scots defeated the Saints in a close overtime match, 0-1 in 2010. Usedom scored the games only goal on an assist from Kartheiser.


Women's Soccer

The Records (2010):
St. Scholastica (15-5-2, 13-0-1 UMAC)
Macalester (11-6-2, 6-3-2 MIAC)

Last Action: After winning the regular season UMAC title (13-0-1), the Saints came up just short in the UMAC Tournament, losing in the championship to Northwestern College, 0-1.

St. Scholastica Saints Notes: Head coach Dave Reyelts lost two seniors from last year's squad in Nicole Brandt (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) and Sarah Kloeckner (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area HS), midfielders who combined for 11 points last season. St. Scholastica is picked to once again win the UMAC in the 2011 conference preseason poll. The young Saints have four seniors for the 2011 season, including the UMAC Defensive Player of the Year, Megan Flesvig (Duluth, Minn./Proctor HS). Returning with Flesvig are the two starting goalkeepers, Bailey Mahlum (Bismarck, N.D./Bismarck HS) and Molly Bergmann (Walker, Minn./Walker-Hackensack-Akeley HS) who recorded a combined 11 shutouts. The fourth senior is midfielder Malia Grosskreutz (Honomu, Hawaii/Waiakea HS (Lewis & Clark)), who led the team with five assists last season. The team also returns their top five leading point scorers from last year, including junior midfielder Andrea Beatt (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS), who had a team high 26 points, and sophomore forward Shannon Carlson (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS), who was second on the team with 20 points, even with limited playing time in 2010.

Macalester Scots Notes: After finishing sixth in the MIAC, the Scots received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after finishing the regular season on a six-match unbeaten streak. The Cinderella story came to an early end as the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point knocked the Scots out in the first round with a 4-2 victory. Macalester is losing eight seniors from last year's squad, including the top two point scorers, Lauryn Gutierrez (17 points) and Emily Bardwell (13). The Scots are, however, returning the next three highest point scorers in senior midfielder, Matea Wasend, and sophomores Maggie Molter (midfielder/forward), and Izzy Speer (forward), all three of whom had seven points a season ago. The Scots are also returning their goalkeeper, junior Rosie Glenn-Finer, who recorded a 9-4-2 record last season, including seven shutouts.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Macalester: 1-6)
The two teams last faced off in 2010, with the Scots defeating the Saints, 0-2, one of seven shutouts posted by Glenn-Finer last season.