Complete release in PDF format

SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster women's soccer team will conclude the regular season with three road games against Frontier Conference team this week. The trip begins on Thursday, October 21 against Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. After a day off, Westminster will face the University of Great Falls on Saturday, October 23. The regular season ends in Helena, Montana against 23rd-ranked Carroll on October 24.

The Griffins will carry a 9-5-1 record with them into the road trip. They are 2-1 in the Frontier Conference and tied for first in the conference with Rocky and Carroll. Last week, Westminster picked up two road wins in Arizona over Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Southwestern (Ariz.) and has now won three straight and eight of the last nine outings.

Westminster is averaging 1.6 goals per game and attempting 12.4 shots per outing. They have put 103 shots on goal which is 55.4% of the total shots they have taken. The team has also recorded 12 assists and taken 58 corner kicks. Defensively they allow 0.8 goals per game and limit the opposition to 9.7 shots per game. Westminster opponents have eight assists and 56 corner kicks.

Heather Hillam leads the Griffins with 12 points with five goals and two assists this season. Hillam's five goals are tops on the team and her two assists are tied for the best. Nicole Taylor and Jessica Harris have each scored three goals with Taylor adding one assist for seven points. Sarah Swenson has scored two goals and added one assist.

Lindsay Bekken has recorded 58 saves with a 0.81 GAA in her 15 games between the pipes. Bekken's nine wins are tied for the most in school history for a season and her seven shutouts is a school record. Elaina Pappas made one save in 82 minute between the pipes last weekend in her goalie debut.

Griffins TV
The Westminster Athletics Department recently partnered with Penn Atlantic to provide fans the opportunity to watch home athletic events live on the internet. Griffins TV will broadcast select Westminster events for FREE for fans to watch on their computers. For a complete schedule visit WestminsterGriffins.com/GriffinsTV.

Scouting Rocky Mountain
Rocky Mountain College enters the week at 9-3 on the season and 2-1 in the Frontier Conference. They are coming off a 2-0 loss to Carroll College on October 16. That loss snapped a four-game winning streak and they have won seven of the last nine games they have played. Allie Beckers leads the team with 17 points with seven goals and three assists while Lauren Brophy has seven goals and two assists for 16 points. Malin Johansson has a 0.84 GAA with 54 saves between the pipes.

Series Record: Rocky Mountain leads, 6-3-0
Last Meeting: Rocky Mountain def. Rocky Mountain 2-0 (10/3/10)

Scouting Great Falls
Great Falls heads into this week's action with a 2-9 record and 0-3 in the Frontier Conference. The Argonauts are coming off a 1-1 weekend in which they defeated Soka University 3-1 and dropped a 5-0 decision against Hope International. The win over Soka snapped a five-game losing streak. Jenell Jackson leads the team with four goals and nine points. Jean Escobar and Ashly Pezel have each scored two goals. Megan Walburn has made 67 saves with a 2.20 GAA at goalkeeper this season.

Series Record: Westminster leads, 7-0-0
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Great Falls 2-0 (9/19/10)

Scouting No. 23 Carroll
Carroll begins the week at 9-3-1 and 2-1 in the Frontier Conference. They have won four of the last five games they have played, with the loss coming to the Griffins on October 5. The Saints have won two straight since the Westminster loss including a 2-0 win over Rocky Mountain on October 16. Meghan O'Connell leads the team with nine goals and 20 points. With 34 career goals, O'Connell is the leading scorer in the history of the Frontier Conference. Erin Volz has a 0.89 GAA and is the reigning conference defensive player of the week.

Series Record: Carroll leads, 5-1-1
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Carroll 2-1 (10/5/10)

Receiving Votes
On September 28, Westminster received one point in the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll. It was the first time in school history the team had received any points in the weekly poll. After receiving no votes in the October 5 poll, Westminster again received one point in the polls released on October 12 and 19. They currently sit 21st among the other teams receiving votes.

Conference Recognition
The Frontier Conference named Westminster College freshman forward Bettina Oesch the offensive player of the week. Oesch scored one goal and added one assist in the Griffins 9-0 victory over Southwestern on October 16. The three points in a game is a career high for the Sandy, Utah native. She attempted four shots with two on frame in 32 minutes en route to the career high three points.

National Recognition
Lindsay Bekken was named the NAIA Defensive Player of the Week for the week of September 5-11. Bekken became the first Griffin women's soccer player to win the national honor, and the first from the Frontier Conference. For the week, Bekken recorded back-to-back shutouts last week as Westminster defeated No. 10 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) on Sept. 10 and Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on Sept. 12 both by scores of 1-0. She had four saves against Point Loma and a trio of blocks against Embry-Riddle. In 300 minutes played in the box, the sophomore goalie had 12 saves and allowed just one goal in a 1-0 loss to Saint Thomas (Fla.).

Unaffiliated Information
The Dakota Athletic Conference, Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference, and Frontier Conference will combine to offer one automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships in 2010. The top-4 teams in this group will advance to the Unaffiliated Conference Tournament with the winner receiving the automatic berth.

Looking Ahead
Westminster will take a week off in preparation for the final Unaffiliated Conference rankings. Should Westminster qualify for the conference tournament, the opening round would take place the weekend of November 12.