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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster women's soccer team welcomes Rocky Mountain and Carroll College for two Frontier Conference games this week. Westminster will begin against Rocky Mountain on Sunday, October 3 at noon. The Griffins will face Carroll on Tuesday, October 5 at 3 p.m. The Carroll game is Senior Day for five Griffins seniors.
Westminster enters the week with a 6-4-1 overall record and has won five consecutive games. The Griffins are also 1-0 in Frontier Conference action with a 2-0 win over Great Falls on September 19. They claimed a 3-0 win over Eastern Oregon and a 1-0 victory over the College of Idaho last weekend in Idaho. The current five-game winning streak is the longest in school history, as is the five straight games without allowing a goal.
The Griffins are averaging one goal per game after scoring four goals in two games last week. The team has attempted 114 shots this season and put 58 of those shots on goal. They are averaging 10.4 shots per game and have also recorded six assists. Defensively, Westminster has allowed just eight goals this season and hold the opposition to 10.7 shots per game.
Heather Hillam leads the team with eight points behind three goals and two assists. Hillam has attempted a team-best 22 shots and put eight of those on frame.
Sarah Swenson has scored two goals, both game winners, and has five total points.
Jessica Harris scored two goals last week to give her four points.
Lindsay Bekken continues to dominate the opposition between the pipes for Westminster. Bekken has posted five consecutive shutouts and has seven shutouts this season. She has lowered her GAA to 0.69 and has made 48 saves. Her GAA ranks 28th nationally and she has an 85.7% save percentage.
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.
Live Stats
All home games this season will feature Live Stats. The feed goes live shortly before kickoff so fans can get all the action directly on their computer or mobile device. Visit www.WestminsterGriffins.com to access the Live Stats.
Scouting Rocky Mountain
Rocky Mountain College enters the week at 4-2-1 on the season. They will face Great Falls on October 1 before making the trip to Salt Lake City. The Battlin' Bears are coming off a 5-0 loss to Southern Oregon on September 19. Prior to that loss, Rocky had gone 2-0-1 in the previous three games. Allie Beckers leads the team with five goals and 11 points. Bekcers scored twice against Warner Pacific on September 3. Malin Johansson has a 1.17 GAA with 27 saves between the pipes.
Series Record: Rocky Mountain leads, 5-3-0
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Rocky Mountain 1-0 (11/13/09)
Scouting Carroll
Carroll College brings a 6-2-1 record into the week and open Frontier Conference play at Great Falls on September 29. They defeated Minot State 2-0 in their last meeting on September 26 after a 1-0 loss at the College of Idaho on September 19. Meghan O'Connell leads the Saints with four goals and nine points while putting a team-best 16 shots on goal. Erin Volz has made 51 saves with a 0.71 GAA at goalie.
Series Record: Carroll leads, 5-0-1
Last Meeting: Carroll def. Westminster 5-0 (11/14/09)
Support the Griffins
Any student wearing a jersey or t-shirt representing their school or club team will receive FREE admission to both games this week. Everyone else in the family will receive $1 tickets to the games.
Receiving Votes
For the first time in school history the Westminster women's soccer team as listed in the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Westminster received one point in the poll that was released on September 28 and sit 25th among the others receiving votes.
Conference Awards Keep Coming
Lindsay Bekken was named the Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the third straight week on Tuesday. She has now been the conference winner four times in her career.
Jessica Harris was named the Offensive Player of the Week for the first time of her career. She joins
Vanessa Jordan as winners of the honor this season.
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 head to Arizona for games at Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Southwestern (Ariz.). The Griffins will be in Prescott to face Embry-Riddle on October 15 and then travel to Phoenix to face Southwestern on October 16.
