HELENA, Mont. -- Carroll College's women's soccer team enters the Cascade Collegiate Conference as the No. 2 seed and will battle with No. 7 Rocky Mountain College in the first round of the playoffs.
"I think you have to negotiate a couple of things," Saints coach Dave Thorvilson said. "You have the excitement of the banquet the night before and then you have to turn right around for a competitive match. In this case, Rocky is one of our biggest rivalries over the years. We both know how each other plays. It's a matter of who executes a little better."
The Saints earned a share of the CCC regular season title after a slow start to the season.
Five members of the Fighting Saints roster (senior
Payton Netz, sophomore
Lizzie Sheldon, senior
Kirsten Girolami, freshman
Katie Martin, junior
Makayla Welch) scored at least three goals during the season, making them one of the tournament's deepest attacks.
Senior goalkeeper
Devan Murfitt earned CCC defensive Player of the Week accolades during the last weekend of the season, and figures to be a key factor in Carroll's success.
The Rocky Mountain offense is also no stranger to scoring goals, featuring five players (Lauryn Gamache, Mhari Smith, Emily Browne, Tiara Duford, Shasta Grant) with four or more goals in the 2018 campaign. Gamache is as good as anyone in the CCC, demonstrating throughout the season her aptitude for finding the back of the net and setting up her teammates. Ranking third in goals (12) in the CCC, and second in assists (11), she could play a huge factor in this year's conference tournament. Maia Wetzel, the Battlin' Bears' talented goalkeeper, hopes to stifle Carroll's offense when the two teams collide tomorrow.
Carroll defeated Rocky Mountain 2-1 in Billings, Mont. when the teams last played each other.
"It helps that we won on the road," Thorvilson said. It was a very difficult match They scored off the kickoff and we had to play catch up. Thankfully we came away with a win."
The Saints kickoff against Rocky at noon MST.
Live video and stats can be seen
here.
