Rams travel to SIU Edwardsville, host North Dakota State in Orange Out this weekend

Colorado State Rams (1-3-1) at SIUE Cougars (2-3-0)
Friday, Sept. 8 | 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT
Korte Stadium | Edwardsville, Ill.
Coverage: Live Video (OVC Digital Network) | Live Stats

Orange Out
Colorado State Rams (1-3-1) vs. North Dakota State Bison (0-6-0)
Sunday, Sept. 10 | 1 p.m. MT
CSU Soccer Field | Fort Collins, Colo.
Coverage: Live Stats

Colorado State Women's Soccer: Match Notes | Twitter

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State women's soccer team continues its 2017 campaign this weekend with a road match at SIU Edwardsville (SIUE) and the team's Orange Out contest at home against North Dakota State.

Colorado State's (1-3-1) Sunday match is one of three Orange Out contests (volleyball on Friday, football on Saturday) in celebration of this weekend's Ag Day. The Rams host the Bison (0-6-0) on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT from the new CSU Soccer Field, and fans are encouraged to attend the match wearing orange. Admission and parking for each home contest is free, with parking available for those attending in the Moby Arena parking lot.

Prior to Sunday's action, the Rams travel for their first out-of-state road match in 2017 when they face SIUE (2-3-0) on the road at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT on Friday. CSU dropped its only true road match earlier this season (2-1 at Northern Colorado on Aug. 24), while SIUE is 1-1-0 in home matches this year.

Live video for Friday's road match will be available via the OVC Digital Network and live stats will be provided by SIUE. Live stats will also be available for the Rams' matchup with the Bison. Links to each may be found above, on the women's soccer schedule page on CSURams.com and on the team's official game day central page, which will go live the morning of each match.

Quickly…
- Colorado State freshman forward Ally Murphy-Pauletto made program history by scoring the Rams' first-ever hat trick in the team's 5-1 win over New Mexico State on Friday, Sept. 1.
- Murphy-Pauletto's three-goal performance led to Mountain West Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday, Sept. 4, the first weekly conference accolade in CSU's five-year history.
- CSU sophomore defender Halley Havlicek scored her first career goal against New Hampshire on Sunday, Sept. 3. Maddi Rodriguez picked up her first point of the season with an assist on the goal
- 10 Rams have tallied a point this season, including Murphy-Pauletto (six points), Makenzi Taylor (three), Havlicek (two), Alex Lanning (two), Taylor Steinke (two), Karli Eheart (one), Rodriguez (one), Janelle Stone (one), Lexi Swenson (one) and Alyssa Yoshida (one).
- Of those 10 CSU players, five have scored at least one goal this season. Those Rams are Murphy-Pauletto (three goals), Havlicek, Lanning, Steinke and Taylor. Six of the Rams' seven goals have been scored by freshmen or sophomores.
- Steinke was the first Ram to score a goal in 2017, burying her first career tally in the 82nd minute at Northern Colorado (Aug. 24). Steinke, a freshman, is the second-fastest to her first career goal in CSU's five-season history.
- The 2017 Rams returned 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 returning from the 2016 season 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, Lanning, Lordemann, Ornes, Beth Plentl, Madisann Relph, Rodriguez and 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).
- 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 (six). 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.
- Freshman forward Ally Murphy-Pauletto's three goals rank as the fourth-most in a single season in program history. Hannah Gerdin had five in 2015, while Kaija Ornes had four in 2016 and Gianna Bertana had four in 2014.
- Murphy-Pauletto's six points in 2017 also rank behind those same three players on CSU's all-time single-season list. Gerdin had 12 points in 2015, while Bertana had nine in 2014 and Ornes had eight in 2016.
- With another goal in her next match, freshman forward Taylor Steinke would become the second-fastest to two career goals in program history. Ally Murphy-Pauletto scored her first three in four matches (hat trick vs. New Mexico State on Sept. 1), while Hannah Gerdin scored two goals over her first six games as a freshman in 2015.

Scouting the SIUE Cougars
- The SIUE Cougars enter this weekend's action with a 2-3-0 record. Last time out, the Cougars fell to Saint Louis (3-0) and UIC (1-0).
- SIUE was picked to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference this season, earning six-first place votes in the conference's preseason coaches' poll. In 2016, SIUE won its conference tournament before defeating No. 2-seeded Notre Dame on penalty kicks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Las season, SIUE was led offensively by Peyton Roehnelt and Caroline Hoefert, who both scored a team-high five goals. Hoefert leads the Cougars' offense once again in 2017, pacing the club with five points on a pair of goals and an assist.

Scouting the North Dakota Bison
- North Dakota State shared the Summit League regular season title with Denver in 2016. NDSU finished last season with a 10-8-1 overall record, including a 5-2-1 mark in conference play.
- North Dakota State finished tied for second place in Summit League preseason coaches' polling, earning 40 total points as well as two first-place votes. However, North Dakota State is 0-6-0 and still searching for its first goal of the season.
- Before traveling to Fort Collins for Sunday's contest, the Bison will make a stop in Greeley, Colo., for a contest with Northern Colorado on Friday night.

Up Next
- The Colorado State women's soccer team plays one contest next week, as the Rams hit the road to face Kansas State. The two teams have not previously met. Game time in Manhattan, Kan., is slated for 12 p.m. MT (1 p.m. CT).

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.
- The new CSU Soccer Field is located adjacent to Moby Arena and CSU softball's Ram Field.
- 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.

Murphy-Pauletto Headlines Historic Weekend
- With a hat trick in the Rams' 5-1 win over New Mexico State (Sept. 1), freshman forward Ally-Murphy Pauletto was at the forefront of a flurry of firsts for the program.
- Murphy-Pauletto's hat trick was the first in CSU soccer's five-year history. Previously, two-goal matches had been recorded by Hannah Gerdin (Oct. 4, 2015 at Air Force), Lizzy Gogolowski (Nov. 1, 2013 at Northern Colorado) and Taylor Nelson (Sept. 13, 2015 at Northern Colorado).
- The freshman's hat trick was part of a five-goal effort for the Rams, setting a new single-match team scoring record. CSU's previous team best was three goals at Northern Colorado (Sept. 13, 2015) and in the program's first-ever match, a neutral-site contests against Lubbock Christian (Aug. 23, 2013).
- The Rams' 5-1 win over New Mexico State marked the program's first-ever win at the new CSU Soccer Field, which opened its gates this fall.
- Murphy-Pauletto is the fastest player in program history to reach three career goals (four matches), reaching that mark faster than any Ram has scored their first two goals (Hannah Gerdin – two goals in six games in 2015).

Steinke Becomes Second-Fastest CSU Freshman to First Career Goal
- Freshman forward Taylor Steinke recorded the first goal by a Ram this season with a tally in the 82nd minute at Northern Colorado (Aug. 24). With that goal, Steinke becomes the second-fastest CSU freshman to her first career goal in program history.
- The only Ram freshman to score her first goal faster was Carly Seib, who scored the first-ever goal for the Rams against Lubbock Christian in the program's first-ever game in 2013. Hannah Gerdin also scored her first goal in the third game of her 2015 freshman campaign, but did so slightly later than Steinke (84th minute).

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 faced one of those opponents in their very first match of the season, hosting then-No. 23 Colorado in the very first contest in their new home facility. The two teams drew, 0-0, after two periods of extra time.
- 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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