HELENA, Mont. – Carroll College women's soccer begins its defense of the conference crown in earnest Sunday and Monday in a pair of matches in the Boise area.
The Saints open the season with No. 17 Hastings College (Neb.) at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho on Sunday before playing a true road game against NCAA DII Northwest Nazarene Monday.
"Being our first regular-season matches, the excitement of getting to seeing someone other than ourselves is something that we've been looking forward to," head coach David Thorvilson said. "The tough opponents should get the team excited about how things are going forward, and for our freshman, they are going to realize how quick the college game is, right away."
The difficulty of starting the season with a pair of strong opponents is that there is very little to go on. Hastings finished last season 17-3-1 and fell in the opening round of the NAIA Championship 2-1 in overtime to Ottawa (Kan.).
"We have seen very little on Hastings," Thorvilson said. "They have one game under their belts, and it wasn't a very tough opponent. They like to push numbers, and they have put a lot of goals in the net over the last few years, we expect to see a fast-paced game."
Northwest Nazarene was 4-13 last season but already have a pair of exhibition wins against Cascade Conference foes College of Idaho and Warner Pacific.
"Nazarene has played Warner Pacific and College of Idaho, and they scored six and only gave up one," Thorvilson said. "Coach (Mary)Trigg has brought in some great recruiting classes, and I have every indication that they are going to run at us as well."
The Saints won a pair of scrimmages against junior colleges, but now it is time to get into regular-season play and the dynamic changes.
"I was excited about the way we played in our scrimmages, but I know that these games will be much more physical and the pace will be faster," Thorvilson said. "With a young team, we are excited to see how we react to a little adversity."
A big key for the Saints will be junior goalkeeper Devan Murfitt. She starts her first season as the full-time starter, replacing three-time conference player of the year Jamie Carter. She also has a young back line in front of her, but Thorvilson believes the way she plays will help the young players develop into a strong unit."
"Devan is a very vocal goalkeeper and her communication with an inexperienced back line is what we are going to need to be successful this year," he said.
Live stats for Sunday's game will be available via the College of Idaho Stretch Internet Portal. Live stats and video will both be available for Monday's match via NNU's website.
