Complete Release | PDF

SALT LAKE CITY – The 23rd-ranked Westminster College women's soccer team takes to the road for a Frontier Conference game this weekend.  Westminster will face Rocky Mountain College on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Billings, Mont. in the second meeting of the year between the two teams.

Griffin Notebook
The Griffins head to Big Sky Country with an 8-4-1 overall record and 3-0 in the Frontier Conference.  Westminster is ranked No. 23 in the latest edition of the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll that was released on Tuesday.  They have gone 4-1-1 over the previous six games and are 0-3-1 away from home this season.

Westminster ranks 44th in the NAIA with 31 goals scored and their 22 assists are 36th-most in the nation.  They are averaging 15.31 shots per game while putting 8.62 of those shots on goal.  Defensively they allow 1.31 goals per game and have recorded five shutouts.  Those five clean sheets rank 20th in the nation and their 0.38 shutouts per game is 29th nationally.

Margo Hickman leads the team with nine goals and she is 49th nationally with that total.  Her five assists are also a team high and she is 41st in the NAIA with her 23 total points.  Hickman ranks 30th nationally in shots on goal (2.69) and 43rd in shots (4.38) with her three game-winning goals placing her 25th nationally.

Dayna Winter-Nolte has posted 47 saves and four shutouts this season.  She has a 1.29 GAA with a .734 save percentage.  Winter-Nolte hasn't allowed a goal in the last 223 minutes played with back-to-back shutouts.

Game Coverage
Video streaming and live stats will not be available for Saturday's game.

Saturday's Opponent: Rocky Mountain
Rocky Mountain College begins the week at 7-6 overall this season and they have gone 1-1 in Frontier play.  The Battlin' bears claimed a 5-3 win over Minot State on Friday and have outscored the opposition 11-3 during their current two-game winning streak.

Rocky has scored 40 goals this season and they lead the Frontier/Cal Pac Conference with an average of 3.08 goals per game.  They also lead the league with an average of 1.85 assists per outing.  Defensively they are holding their opponents to 1.54 goals per contest.

Lauren Brophy has scored a team-best 12 goals while adding four assists for 28 points.  She leads the conference in goals and points while ranking fourth in shots and shots on goal.  Morgan Bowe and Kirsty Montignani have each scored seven goals with four assists.  Malin Johansson has a 1.70 GAA with 41 saves and a .672 save percentage.

Inside the Series
Rocky Mountain leads the all-time series by a count of 7-4.  Westminster won the first match-up of the season, 5-2, on Aug. 29 at Dumke Field.  The Griffins are 0-4 all-time against the Bears in Billings and have been outscored 11-1 with three shutouts in those games.

Offensive Explosion
Westminster is having its best offensive season in school history this season.  They have already scored 31 goals this season and are one shy of tying the record of 32 set in 2007.  The 2.38 goals per game average would be a school record, surpassing the 2007 average of 1.78.  Westminster scored at least one goal in each of the first nine games and surpassed the previous record of seven straight set in 2009.

Westminster has also recorded 22 assists so far this season.  That sets a new school record for assists in a season, surpassing the 21 assists they had in 2009.  The Griffins are averaging 1.69 helpers per contest and are ahead of the record of 1.05 set both in 2008 and 2009.

Getting Defensive
Westminster is currently allowing 1.31 goals per game to rank second in the Frontier/Cal Pac Conference.  They have a team GAA of 1.24 which would rank second in school history behind the 0.97 they had in 2010.  The Griffins have also recorded five shutouts in 2011 which is the fourth-most in school history.
 
With a 3-0 shutout of Marymount on Saturday, Westminster has now posted back-to-back shutouts for the second time this season.  They have currently gone 223 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal which is the second longest streak of the year.  The Griffins had a streak of 263 minutes without allowing a goal during a four-game stretch in late-August to September.

The Hickman Show
Junior forward Margo Hickman has scored nine goals with five assists and leads the team in both categories.  Her 23 points ranks second in school history for points in a season and sit just five shy of the 28 Jennifer Pirente had in 2007.  Hickman is also four goals away from matching the 13 Pirente scored in 2007.

Hickman has scored at least one goal in seven of the 13 games played this season.  She has twice scored two goals in a game and has five goals in the last six games.  Hickman has tallied at least one point in nine games and has two five-point games with one three-point game.

Senior Swenson
Senior Sarah Swenson is having a stellar season in her final campaign with the Griffins.  After scoring one goal with two assists on Saturday, Swenson is now second on the team with 14 points.  The 5-foot-6 forward is tied for second on the team with five goals and she is second with four assists.  Swenson has five games this season with at least three points and twice has scored a goal while also recording an assist.

Swenson ranks third in school history with 38 career points and an average of 0.53 points per game.  She is the Westminster career leader in assists with 12 and she is third with 13 career goals.  She also ranks second with 111 total shots and her 67 shots on goal is the school record.

Climbing the Hill-am
With her one goal against Marymount on Saturday, Heather Hillam moved into a tie for the school record with 19 career goals.  The senior also sits one point shy of the school record for points with 43 and her nine game-winning goals also rank first in school history.

This season, Hillam has scored five goals with two assists for 12 total points.  She ranks second on the team with two game-winning goals and her 25 shots are third-best.  Hillam has played a team-leading 1,114 minute this season and has at least one point in five games.

Dumke Advantage
The Griffins have posted a 37-9-1 all-time record on the fast surface of Dumke Field.  They have never dropped more than two games in a season and finished the regular season with an 8-1 mark at home.  Westminster outscored the opposition 26-7 during the nine home games this season while recording four shutouts.

Checking the Coaches' Poll
For the second straight week Westminster was ranked in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll that was released on Tuesday.  The Griffins received a school-record 180 points in the poll to rank No. 23.  They dropped on spot from the previous week but, this is the first time in school history they have been ranked in consecutive polls.

Westminster has now been ranked three times in school history with all coming this season.  They have posted a 1-1 record while playing as a ranked team with Saturday's win the first in that situation.

Massey Ratings
Westminster moved up another two positions to No. 22 in the latest edition of the Massey ratings that were released on Sunday.  The Griffins came in with a rating of 0.441 and are first among teams from the Frontier/Cal Pac Conference.  The ratings list Westminster as having the second-best home advantage and having played the 15th-best schedule to date.

The Massey Ratings are compiled each week with new ranking being released on Mondays.  Kenneth Massey is the creator of the rating formula and all ratings can be found on his web site at www.masseyratings.com.