Rams face No. 25 Colorado and Denver to open 2017 season

The Colorado Cup
Colorado State Rams vs. No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes
Friday, Aug. 18 | 5 p.m. MT
CSU Soccer Field | Fort Collins, Colo.
Coverage: CSURams.com/Watch (MW Network) | Live Stats

The Colorado Cup
Colorado State Rams vs. Denver Pioneers
Sunday, Aug. 20 | 11 a.m. MT
Prentup Field | Boulder, Colo.
Coverage: Live Stats

Colorado State Women's Soccer: Match Notes | Twitter

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's soccer team will open its fifth season this weekend as the Rams face No. 25 Colorado and Denver as part of The Colorado Cup.

The Rams officially kick off their 2017 campaign on Friday with a 5 p.m. MT match against the 25th-ranked Buffaloes. Friday's match will be the first-ever official match hosted at the new CSU Soccer Field, which is located by Moby Arena on the corner of Elizabeth and Shields Streets.

Admission to the Rams' match on Friday, as well as all home matches, is free. Parking will be available in the Moby Arena Parking lot, which can be accessed via Shields Street or Plum Street. The setup for 2017 home matches will be similar to those at The Lagoon in the past, and fans are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets or any other preferred items to be used for seating.

Following Friday's home match, the Rams will continue play in The Colorado Cup with a matchup against Denver at 11 a.m. MT on Sunday in Boulder, Colo. The neutral-site match between the Rams and Pioneers is set to be held at Prentup Field.

Among the experience returning for the Rams in 2017 are 18 letterwinners, including senior captains Janelle Stone and Taylor Hodgson, as well as seniors Paige Brandt, Gianna Marconi and Maddi Rodriguez. Among the juniors returning for the Rams are 2016 leading scorer Kaija Ornes, as well as CSU's all-time points leader, Hannah Gerdin. Bolstering the roster are 10 newcomers added during the offseason.

Live video will be made available for the Rams' match with Colorado at CSURams.com/Watch via the MW Network. Additionally, live state will be available for each of the contests against Colorado and Denver. Links to each are available above or through the women's soccer schedule page on CSURams.com.

Quickly…
- Colorado State returns 18 letterwinners from its 2016 roster. That ties for the second-most of any Mountain West program. Of those returning letterwinners, 16 have starting experience and seven were regular starters in 2016.
- CSU's top scorers entering 2017 are junior Kaija Ornes (team-high four goals and eight points in 2016), junior Hannah Gerdin (four points in 2016; CSU career-record 16 points for her career) and sophomore Caeley Lordemann (10 points at Creighton in 2016).
- Overall, the Rams' 2017 roster features eight athletes that scored a goal last season: Gerdin, Alex Lanning, Lordemann, Ornes, Beth Plentl, Madisann Relph, Maddi Rodriguez and Janelle Stone.
- The Rams return all three players that accounted for a game-winning goal in 2016: Ornes (at Denver on Aug. 19), Lanning (vs. SIUE on Aug. 28) and Gerdin (vs. Nevada on Sept. 30).
- Among CSU's returning athletes is its most experienced goalkeeper, Paige Brandt. The senior ranked fifth in the Mountain West last season with 44 saves in conference play.
- Senior midfielder Maddi Rodriguez played 1,589 minutes last season, the most of any Ram returning for 2017. Rodriguez and Ornes appeared in all 19 matches last season, starting 19 and 18, respectively.

Record Watch
- With her double-overtime goal against Nevada on Sept. 30, 2016, junior forward Hannah Gerdin moved into a tie with Gianna Bertana for CSU's career goals scored record (6). Bertana competed for the Rams from 2014-15.
- Junior forward Kaija Ornes is also nearing the top of CSU's career goals scored list, as her four goals rank fourth in program history.

Scouting the No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes
- Colorado State's opponent for its 2017 season opener finished its 2016 campaign with a 15-6-1 record and a second-round finish in the NCAA Tournament. The Buffaloes defeated Oklahoma State, 3-1, in the opening round before falling at South Carolina, 1-0.
- Colorado was picked to finish sixth in the 2017 Pac-12 Women's Soccer Coaches Poll, receiving 74 points. The Buffaloes are ranked 25th nationally in the preseason coaches' poll, and were tabbed 21st nationally according to TopDrawerSoccer.com.
- Among the top returners for Colorado in 2017 is Taylor Kornieck, who led the Buffaloes with 11 goals and 26 points last season. The 2016 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year was recently named Preseason Second-Team All-America by TopDrawerSoccer.com.

Colorado State All-Time Against Colorado (0-2-1)
Aug. 22, 2014 – L, 2-0 – Boulder, Colo.
Aug. 21, 2015 – T, 1-1 – Fort Collins, Colo.
Aug. 21, 2016 – L, 2-1 – Boulder, Colo.

Scouting the Denver Pioneers
- The Denver Pioneers are coming off an 8-9-2 season in 2016. Last season, the Pioneers reached the semifinals of the Summit League tournament, falling to South Dakota State in penalty kicks.
- Denver is expected to win in conference in 2017, as the Pioneers received 41 points in the 2017 Summit League Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll to edge South Dakota State and North Dakota State (40 points each). The Pioneers have been picked to win the league in four of the past five seasons.
- Midfielder Hannah Adler and defender Makenzie Bothner are among the top returners for the Pioneers after earning Summit League Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, last season. Adler led the Pioneers in goals (4), assists (4) and points (12) in 2016.

Colorado State All-Time Against Denver (2-0-0)
Aug. 23, 2015 – W, 1-0 – Boulder, Colo.
Aug. 19, 2016 – W, 2-0 – Denver, Colo.

Up Next
- The Colorado State women's soccer team continues play in The Colorado Cup next week against Northern Colorado.
- The Rams and Bears are set to play on Thursday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. MT from Jackson Stadium in Greeley, Colo.

New Facility Marks New Era of Rams Soccer
- The Colorado State women's soccer program, which enters its fifth season in 2017, has called The Lagoon home for all of its matches in Fort Collins over the past three seasons. However, the Rams have a new permanent home beginning with the 2017 season.
- Beginning with its home opener against in-state and Colorado Cup rival Colorado on Aug. 18, CSU will now compete in a location that replaces the previous football practice facility. The Rams' new facility is located directly adjacent to Moby Arena and Ram Field at the intersection of Shields and Elizabeth Streets.
- Among the improvements made to the facility in preparation for the upcoming season was a topdressing process. Approximately 2,000 pounds of grass seed were transported in and spread evenly across what will become the pitch. The goals of that process include improving the thickness and leveling of the natural grass surface over time, as well as to allow for better drainage in adverse weather conditions.

Game Day Information for the New CSU Soccer Field
- Fans looking to attend a home CSU soccer match may park in the Moby Arena parking lot, conveniently located immediately next to the Rams' new facility. Entrances to the Moby Arena parking lot are located on Shields Street and on Plum Street.
- Fans attending a CSU home match can expect seating and set-up similar to game days at The Lagoon, and are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs, blankets or other similar items to use for seating at a match.

Rams Return Second-Most Letterwinners in Mountain West
- The Colorado State women's soccer team enters the 2017 season with perhaps its most experienced roster in its now five-year history. CSU returns 18 letterwinners from its 2016 squad, which ranks as the second-most of any team in the Mountain West.
- Of those 18 letterwinners, CSU also returns seven athletes that were regular starters in 2016. Additionally, 16 of those returning letterwinners made at least one start last season.

Two of Rams' Top Scorers Return for Junior Seasons
- Among the experienced athletes returning for the Rams in 2017 are two of the program's top scorers, junior forwards Kaija Ornes and Hannah Gerdin.
- Ornes, a native of Prior Lake, Minn., paced the Rams in both goals (4) and points (8) one season ago. The junior's four goals are the second-most scored in a single season in CSU's four-year history.
- Gerdin tallied four points last season on a goal and a pair of assists. The Colorado Springs, Colo., native is already CSU's all-time leading scorer with 16 points between her first two collegiate seasons. Gerdin scored a school single-season record five goals as a freshman en route to a CSU-record 12 points (five goals, two assists) her freshman season.

Rams to Face Trio of 2016 NCAA Tournament Participants
- Of the opponents on CSU's schedule for this season, three 2017 foes reached the NCAA Tournament in 2016. The Rams face one of those opponents in their very first match of the season, hosting Colorado in the very first contest in their new home facility.
- CSU travels to 2016 NCAA Tournament participant SIU Edwardsville for a matchup on Friday, Sept. 8. The two teams also met last season, a contest the Rams won, 2-1, at The Lagoon.
- CSU faces off against their third 2016 NCAA Tournament participant on Friday, Oct. 6, when the Rams take on UNLV in Las Vegas. UNLV won the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles in 2016, and finished the year with a 16-4-3 record.

Hodgson and Stone Named Team Captains for 2017
- When the Rams take the pitch this season, they will be led by captains Taylor Hodgson and Janelle Stone. The pair of seniors were formally announced as team captains prior to the team's spring schedule on Friday, March 31.
- Each of Hodgson and Stone joined the Rams as part of their 2014 recruiting class, their first since the program's inaugural season in 2013. Hodgson has appeared in 40 matches with 12 starts in her career, while Stone has made 49 starts in 52 appearances. Notably, Stone led the Rams in minutes played (1,073) through 13 matches before being sidelined for the season with an injury.

Young Rams
- While CSU does return a bulk of experience from their 2016 roster, the Rams' roster is also filled out by a large group of underclassmen. Five athletes on the roster are seniors, meaning that 82 percent (23 of 28 athletes) of the team has junior, sophomore or freshman eligibility.
- Over half of the team is made up of either freshmen or sophomores. Those two groups make up the core of CSU's roster, as they combine to compose 61 percent (17 of 28 athletes) of the club.

Newcomers Join Rams' Core for 2017
- Joining the Rams' core of 18 returning letterwinners are 10 newcomers. Eight of those newcomers are freshmen, including three forwards (Ally Murphy-Pauletto, Emma Shinsky and Taylor Steinke), three midfielders (Kallie Clements, Karli Eheart and Alyssa Yoshida) and two defenders (Bailyn Furrow and Lauren Jones).
- Among the two transfers is sophomore midfielder Caeley Lordemann, who joins the Rams after scoring 10 points in her freshman season at Creighton. Lordemann's 10 points ranked third among Crieghton athletes last season.
- Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Hunter Peifer is set to compete with fellow goalkeepers Paige Brandt and Sydney Hall this season after joining the Rams from South Carolina. Peifer was 3-0-0 for the Gamecocks with a 0.29 goals against average.

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