HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College women's soccer team is in a position that the team has not been in three years. The back-to-back defending Cascade Champions have to find a new goal keeper.
 
Jamie Carter, the three-time Conference Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American has graduated, along with the rest of her dynamic senior class that led the Saint to two titles.
 
The Saints were picked to repeat as the Cascade Conference champions by the conference coaches, but head coach David Thorvilson knows there will be a lot to work on and some growing pains for the Saints early.
 
"Every time you come into preseason each year you're trying to figure out what you need to work on," Thorvilson said. "After last year, the things that we want to do more is score more goals. We know that our defense will be very young, that has been the focal point the last two years, so we want our focal point to be on scoring goals and creating a lot more chances. Early on we know we're going to make a lot of mistakes, so a big focus will be finding what those mistakes are, cleaning them up and finding who's going to work best in those positions."
 
Stepping into the goalkeeper position will be junior Devan Murfitt. Freshman Sydney Green will back up Murfitt. The goalkeeper position isn't the only change on the defense, the bulk of the Carroll back line will be fresh faces and expect a lot of substitutions, especially early in the season.
 
"Last year we brought in a really good class defensively trying to prepare ourselves for this year, and they've matured nicely," Thorvilson said. "We have Rachael Quade coming off of a redshirt year last year. We have a Junior, Holly Anderson and Carsyn Kraft is coming off a redshirt year. Also, they can play in the Center Back position for us.  We have a large group of outside backs that vary in experience from our senior class all the way down to our freshmen.  One of the things we want to be able to do this year is play at a very fast pace and having that depth all over the field should help us do that early in the season."
 
The most veteran unit on the team will be the midfield where the Saints return Talya Vaira, Taryn Neameyer and Charlie Clements, the three combined for four goals and three assists last year but their speed set up the forwards for big goals.
 
"We had a few players in the midfield last year that are returning who stood out for us," Thorvilson said. "We had Talya, Taryn and Charlie, so two sophomores and a junior. Really, the strength of our team early on is going to be our midfield."
 
Payton Netz anchors a group of forwards that bring the pace of the game up a notch this year. Thorvilson will rotate in a lot of players as the Saints look to keep moving at a frenetic pace.
 
"We're probably going to play those attacking positions by committee in the sense that we want to go at a high pace for long periods of time," he said. "We are going to have to have multiple players that are going to do that. Kayla Welch coming in as a sophomore this year finished the spring on very well. We have Payton Netz who's been doing very well. We've returned Madison Apsey this year, coming off of an injury last year, so we have some new and old mixed in to give us some depth there."
 
The Saints bring a recruiting class that included nine freshmen and a sophomore transfer HanSena DiNoia from Westminster College. The group will look to make an impact right away.
 
"I think one of our focuses into this freshman class was just as much sheer athleticism as their soccer knowledge and a handful of players are starting to show that early into the season," Thorvilson said. "Bren Walker is a local kid, and she's adjusting very well to the college game. Ashley Carlson is a very fit player and obviously knows Carroll very well and can do some things for us. She is another very talented freshman who we're very excited for everyone else to get to see."
 
The Saints open the schedule Saturday and Sunday with a pair of scrimmages against Gillette College (Saturday at 11 a.m.) and Sheridan College (Sunday at 1 p.m.). Neither of the games count but with the true season opener still two weeks away, the contests give the Saints a break in the training schedule.
 
"We don't open up until September gave us a longer preseason to work on things," Thorvilson said. "It's just a great change to get out and see how we look against someone other than ourselves.  "We have thirty kids, twenty-six who are healthy, and we want to see different combinations and how they play together. Some kids are an unknown, others were waiting to prove themselves, and these are great chances."
 
As scrimmages, NAIA rules prohibit coverage of the games by the school website.