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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College women's soccer team returns to Montana for two games in the Frontier Conference this week.  Westminster will face Carroll on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Helena.  They will then face Great Falls in the conference finale on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster will begin the week with an 8-5-1 overall record and are 3-1 in the Frontier Conference.  The Griffins are coming off a 1-0 loss at Rocky Mountain last Saturday and have gone 0-4-1 away from Dumke Field this season.

Westminster has scored 31 goals this season and is averaging 2.21 goals per game.  They attempt 14.8 shots per contest and have put 115 shots on goal.  The opposition scores 1.29 goals per game and attempt 10.6 shots.

Margo Hickman leads the team with nine goals. Her five assists are also a team high and she has 23 total points.  Hickman ranks 41st nationally in shots on goal (2.57) and 43rd in shots (4.29) with her three game-winning goals placing her 34th nationally.

Dayna Winter-Nolte has posted 50 saves and four shutouts this season.  She has a 1.27 GAA with a .739 save percentage.  Winter-Nolte has allowed one goal in the last three games played.

Game Coverage
Saturday's game at Carroll will feature live stats and possibly video streaming.  The links to these features can be found under the calendar at WestminsterGriffins.com.  Sunday's game at Great Falls will not have live stats or live video.

Saturday's Opponent: Carroll
Carroll begins the week at 8-3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Frontier Conference.  The Saints have won three straight and outscored the opposition 16-1 during that stretch.  They lost to the Griffins at Dumke Field by a score of 1-0 in Oct. 1.

Meghan O'Connell leads the team with 11 goals and 24 points.  Macie Netz has added six goals and four assists for 16 points while Molly Clark has added four goals and four assists. Erin Volz has a 1.08 GAA with 62 saves in goal for the Saints.

Sunday's Opponent: Great Falls
Great Falls enters the week at 3-7-1 overall and 0-3 in the conference.  The Argonauts have won two straight and are 3-1-1 in their last five after starting the year with six straight losses.  Westminster claimed a 4-0 win over UGF on Sept. 5 at Dumke Field.

Ashly Pezel and Kelsey Reehill are the only players with multiple goals behind three goals and two goals respectively.  Quinn Wilson has a team-best two assists.  Jocelyn Morris ha a 1.41 GAA with a team-best 30 saves at keeper.  Morris has two wins and an .811 save percentage.

Inside the Series
Carroll leads the all-time series with Westminster 7-2-1.  The Griffins are 0-6 all-time in Helena and have been outscored 20-4 in those meetings.

Westminster is a perfect 9-0 against UGF with the 4-0 win earlier this season.  The Griffins have shutouts the Argos in eight of those games and haven't allowed a goal by UGF in 550 consecutive minutes.

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 2.21 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 1.57 helpers per contest and are ahead of the record of 1.05 set both in 2008 and 2009.

Getting Defensive
Westminster is currently allowing 1.29 goals per game to rank second in the Frontier/Cal Pac Conference.  They have a team GAA of 1.22 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.
Opponents are averaging 10.6 shots per game and have put 71 of their 149 total shots on goal.  Griffin opponents score on 12.1% of their shot attempts and have 11 assists on 18 goals.

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 14 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 against Marymount, 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 0.52 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, 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 1,204 minutes 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.

Massey Ratings
Despite the 1-0 loss last week, Westminster moved up two positions to No. 20 in the latest edition on the Massey Ratings that were released on Sunday.  The Griffins are the top rated team from the Frontier/Cal Pac Conference and have the No. 1 home advantage.  According to the ratings, Westminster has also played the 13-toughest schedule this season.

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.