Complete Release | PDF <> Tournament Site <> Tournament Stats Site <> Tournament Bracket

SALT LAKE CITY – The 23rd-ranked Westminster College women's soccer team will face No. 7 Concordia (Ore.) in the 2011 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Opening Round.  The game will be played on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Touminen Yard on the campus of Concordia in Portland, Ore.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster enters its first-ever NAIA National Championship at 12-6-2 and champions of the Cal Pac/Frontier Conference Tournament.  They won last weekend's tournament by beating Holy Names 2-1 in overtime on Friday and then defeating Carroll in penalty kicks on Saturday.

Westminster is 4-0-1 over their past five games and has won three straight away from home after starting the year 0-5-1 away from Dumke Field.  The Griffins have gone 5-3 against ranked teams this season.

Westminster has scored 38 goals and average 1.9 goals per contest.  They have fired 283 shots with 151 of those attempts being on frame.  The Griffins average 14.1 shots per game and have added 26 assists.  The opposition has scored 20 goals and attempted 197 shots.

Margo Hickman has scored 11 goals during the regular season while also leading the team with five assists.  Hickman has a team-best 75 shots and 44 shots on goal.  Heather Hillam has scored six goals with two assists and Sarah Swenson and Corie Walch have five goals apiece.  Swenson and Justine Jones have four assists each.

Dayna Winter-Nolte has recorded 12 wins in goal for the Griffins while making 64 saves.  She has a 0.97 GAA with eight shutouts and a 76.2% save percentage.

Tournament Coverage
For complete coverage of the Griffins first-ever trip to the NAIA National Championship, visit WestminsterGriffins.com/wsocnaia.  You can find links to live video and statistics for every game the Griffins play along with ticket information and directions to the playing sites.  After the games, the game stats and recaps will also be posted on the site.

Saturday's game will have live stats and live video available courtesy of the Concordia Sports Information Department. Tod Pickett will handle the play-by-play on the video broadcast.  Links to both live stats and live video are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/wsocnaia.

Saturday's Opponent: No. 7 Concordia Cavaliers
Concordia enters their 11th straight national tournament with a 15-4-1 record.  The qualified for the tournament as champions of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament and they also won the regular season title with an 8-1 record.  The Cavaliers are ranked seventh in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll and are the No. 8 seed in the tournament.

Alex Thomas leads the team with 10 goals and 52 shots.  She has put 30 shots on goal and ranks 12th in the NAIA by scoring six game-winning goals. Jackie Hendrickson as scored five goals while recording six assists for 16 points.  Erin Huisingh and Adrienne Lommasson also have six assists each. Tori Talbutt is ninth in the nation with a 0.56 GAA while making 52 saves.

Inside the Series
The only other meeting between Westminster and Concordia came on Sept. 25 of this season.  At the time, Concordia was ranked fifth in the NAIA and they defeated the then No. 24 Griffins 3-0.  Three different players scored for Concordia and they outshot Westminster 11-7 in the game.

This will be the Griffins first-ever game in the NAIA National Championship.  They have a 3-3-1 all-time record in the postseason, with all of those games coming in conference tournaments.  Concordia has a 17-10-2 all-time record at the NAIA tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed last season.

Checking the NAIA Polls
Westminster remained in the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll this week in a tie for No. 23.  The Griffins received 154 points in the final poll of the regular season.  Westminster is tied with Kansas Wesleyan and Oklahoma City for the 23rd position.  This is the second consecutive week that Westminster has been in the Top 25 which matches the longest streak in school history.

Westminster is also ranked No. 24 in the final MRPI poll of the season.  The Griffins have a 0.554 ratings and rank the highest of any team from the Frontier Conference. The MRPI consists of the team's modified winning percentage, their opponents' winning percentage and the cumulative ranking points from the current NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Each of the three values has a weighted percentage calculated in the MRPI. The MRPI modifies the value of home/away/neutral results and adds more value for games against opponents ranked in their respective national poll.

Record Offense
Westminster is having its best offensive season in school history this season.  They have scored 38 goals this season which sets a new school record, surpassing the 32 goals scored in 2007.  The 1.9 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 26 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 1.3 helpers per contest and are ahead of the record of 1.05 set both in 2008 and 2009.

Getting Defensive
Westminster is currently allowing one goal per game to rank second in the Frontier/Cal Pac Conference.  They have a team GAA of 0.95 which would surpass the school record of 0.97 they had in 2010.  The Griffins have also recorded nine shutouts in 2011 which are the second most in school history.

Better in the Second
The Griffins seem to get better as the game goes along this season.  Westminster has scored 24 of their 38 goals this season in the second half and has 27 goals after intermission when you include overtime.  Westminster has a 28-12 advantage after the halftime break while only outscoring the opposition 11-8 during the first 45 minutes.

Westminster has also outshot the opposition 151-108 in the second half and overtime this season.  The Griffins have a 138-88 advantage in just the second half of games and hold a 78-42 advantage in shots on goal after intermission.

The Hickman Show
Junior forward Margo Hickman has scored 11 goals with five assists and leads the team in both categories.  Her 27 points ranks second in school history for points in a season and sit just one shy of the 28 Jennifer Pirente had in 2007.  Hickman is also two goals away from matching the 13 that Pirente scored in 2007 and is only he second player to reach 10 in a season.

Hickman has scored a goal in nine games this season. She has twice scored two goals in a game and scored in seven of the first nine games.   She has added five game-winning goals to set a new school record.

Atop the Hill-am
Senior Hillam has scored six goals this season and with her goal at Soka on Oct. 30 she became Westminster career leader in goals and points.  During her career, Hillam has scored 20 goals and racked up 45 points.  Those are both school records as is the nine game-winning goals she has scored.

Hillam has started every game the Griffins have played since she stepped on campus in 2007.  She is the career leader in games started and is tied with Swenson for the career record of games played.  Hillam has also played 6,439 minutes during her career which is another school record.

The Ball Stops Here
Senior Winter-Nolte has been key to the Griffins success this season while starting every game in goal.  Winter-Nolte has recorded 64 saves during the year and is five shy of matching her career high of 69 set in 2008.  Her 12 wins this season are a new school record and she is second in school history with eight shutouts.  Her 0.97 GAA would also be a new school record.

Winter-Nolte is the Westminster career leader in saves, wins and shutouts.  She has made 189 saves during her career while recording 26 wins and 15 shutouts.  Her 1.40 career GAA is second overall at Westminster while also posting a career 71.6% save percentage. 

Dumke Advantage
The Griffins have posted a 38-9-2 all-time record on the fast surface of Dumke Field.  They have never dropped more than two games in a season and finished this season at 9-1-1 at home.  Westminster outscored the opposition 28-8 during the 11 home games this season while recording five shutouts.

Massey Ratings
Westminster sits at No. 20 in the latest edition of the Massey ratings that were released on Sunday.  The Griffins moved up three spots from the previous week with their rating of 0.449.  According to the ratings, Westminster has played the 13th-toughest schedule and has the eighth-best home advantage.

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.