HELENA, Mont. - As the month of August comes to a close, the Carroll College Women's soccer team will officially ramp up, with their first official match of the 2025 season on Saturday, August 30 against Ottawa (Ariz.) followed by a holiday morning affair with Arizona Christian on Monday.

Ten months removed from a heart-breaking double overtime loss in the opening round of the CCC Championship, the Fighting Saints (10-5-4, 7-3-2) will look to start their season on the right foot this weekend in Arizona. A pair of games against GSAC foes await Carroll, who enters the weekend with a full month of preparation under their belts.

NEW FACES

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Four starters from the 2024 team have moved on to the post-grad life, and Head Coach David Thorvilson will have to replace some substantial contributions from the group in 2025.

Roster retention as a whole was high for the Saints, with 23 total players returning to the team this Fall, joined by a handful of hungry freshmen who will look to challenge for playing time this Fall.
 

Ava Dhanens | Battle Ground, Wash. | Prairie HS

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Dahnens, the daughter of Colette and Tom, joins the Saints following an impressive prep career in which she was a four-year Varsity starter at Prairie HS. Her impressive list of high school accolades include being named a four-time WIAA Scholar Athlete, 2021 Most Improved Defender, 2024 Best Defensive Player,  and 2024 Greater St Helens' First Team All League. A leader on the pitch, Dhanens was a four-year 07G Black 1 Columbia Premier Captain. Off the pitch, she was a National Honors Society Member as well as a four-year Honor Student. She graduated with a 3.9 GPA, and intends to major in Biology on the Pre-Med track.

Morgan Hayes | Libby, Mont. | Libby HS

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The daughter of Amy and John Hayes, Morgan graduated with a 3.8 GPA and intends to major in Political Science on the Pre-Law track. The Libby Logger
was a three-time MSHA All-Conference selection, received the LHS Dedication & Loyalty Awards, and was a Team Captain.

Samantha Patch | Spokane, Wash. | Ridgeline HS

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A multi-sport star, Patch joins the Carroll midfield with an impressive high school resume. A four-year varsity athlete, Patch was twice named Midfield MVP at Ridgeline HS. In addition to her soccer honors, she was also a two-time Defensive MVP on the Ridgeline Basketball team. Patch is a member of the Surf Select National Club team, and spent four years as a National Honors Society member. The daughter of Rikki and Anthony Patch, Samantha graduated with a 3.9 GPA and intends to major in Nursing at Carroll.

THE RETURNERS

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While replacing four starters is never an easy ask, Thorvilson can rest easy knowing that three multi-time All-Conference selections will return to the pitch this Fall.

Goalkeeper Maria Ackerman (Billings, Mont. / JR) is one of the top keepers in the league, and the Billings West product will look to continue her impressive play in 2025. Ackerman was the first player in program history to earn NAIA National Player of the Week honors last season, as her early year performances against Taylor and Indiana Tech saw her accumulate 22 total saves.

Defender Avery Lambourne (Billings, Mont. / JR) has impressed throughout her two years on the Hilltop, earning First Team All-CCC honors both seasons. She'll anchor a veteran backline that includes seniors Courtnie Gagnon (Billings, Mont. / SR) and Myah Reitze (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho / SR).

One of the best strikers in program history, Delaney Moczan (Las Vegas, Nev. / JR) enters her junior season already in the top ten for goals scored (20) in the team's 27-year history. Last season, Moczan led the entire league in points (33), shots (81), points per game (1.82), goals (14), and goals per game (.82).

In the midfield, Carroll will be led by senior captain Ella Kuenzli (Bigfork, Mont.), providing a steady presence.

"With 10 seniors on this year's team, there's an excitement to return back to being one of the top teams in the conference." said Thorvilson "We return three First Team All-Conference players that offer depth down the middle of the field, and a chance for us to develop some of our sophomores and juniors into more of a leadership role."

"The ultimate goal is to have a chance to win a conference tournament, and more importantly - a chance to try and represent us on the national scale as well."

THE LEAGUE

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The Cascade Collegiate Conference features plenty of competition year-in and year-out, and 2025 will likely not be an exception.

Carroll was tabbed to finish fourth in the league's Preseason Coaches' Poll, mirroring their final position in the 2024 standings, with a total of 132 points.

2025 CCC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll

Team (First-Place Votes)	Points
1. College of Idaho (13)	169
2. Oregon Tech	140
3. Eastern Oregon University	137
4. Carroll College	132
5. Southern Oregon University	107
6. Rocky Mountain College	101
7. Corban University	87
7. Northwest University	87
9. Bushnell University	73
10. The Evergreen State College	53
11. Warner Pacific University	43
12. University of Providence	32
13. Walla Walla University	22

THE MATCHUPS

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This weekend's contest against OUAZ will mark the inaugural meeting between the pair, while Monday morning's matchup with Arizona Christian will be the third in program history, but first in 14 years.

Carroll owns a 2-0 record over the Firestorm in the all-time matchups, having earned lopsided 11-0 and 8-0 wins over ACU in 2011 and 2009, respectively.

OUAZ finished fourth in the 2024 GSAC standings, eventually bowing out to Embry Riddle in the semifinals of the league's postseason tournament, while ACU finished sixth in the GSAC table.

"It's always nice to get outside your conference and get to play a team you're not familiar with." said Thorvilson "I definitely think it helps prepare you for the conference season. Even though we're playing in the warmer weather obviously, we're still playing two teams that found quite a bit of success last year, and should challenge us and help us see where we're at now, and need to be moving forward."

Streams and stats for both contests can be found below:
OUAZ
Stream | Stats
ACU
Stream | Stats