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SALT LAKE CITY – The 2011 Westminster women's soccer team begins the fifth campaign in school history with a home game against Utah Valley on Monday at 1 p.m. They also face Iowa Western Community College in an exhibition game at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Game Coverage
Live Stats and video streaming will not be available for either of the games this week. A complete video streaming schedule will be announced on August 22.
Tickets
Tickets for Westminster College home athletic events can be purchased on the day of the game at the event site. Typically, tickets will be on sale one hour before the start of the event and accepted payments include: cash, check and all major credit cards.
Tickets cost $4 for adults and $3 for children, seniors, alumni and non-Westminster students. Current Westminster students receive free admission with a valid student ID.
Dumke Field
Women's soccer home games are played on Dumke Field. Pets are not allowed on Dumke Field. Purchase tickets at NW gate entrance and all seating is general admission. Person's with disabilities can access the field at the northeast gate entrance and proceed to the grandstand area.
Monday's Opponent: Utah Valley
This marks the third straight year the Griffins will open the season against the Wolverines. While this game counts in the season record for the Griffins, Utah Valley considers this an exhibition game.
Utah Valley returns eight players from a 2010 team that finished 10-9-1 overall and advanced to the semi-finals of the Great West Tournament. Junior Regan Clifford is the top returning scorer after posting three goals and 10 points last year.
Thursday's Opponent: Iowa Western
Iowa Western comes to Salt Lake City for an exhibition game against the Griffins. The game will be played at Rio Tinto Stadium which is the home of Real Salt Lake from the MLS.
Iowa Western features 16 players from the state of Utah and is coming off an 18-4-2 season in 2010. The Reivers finished with a No. 5 national ranking in the final NJCAA poll.
Griffin Notebook
Westminster returns 10 of the top 11 scorers from last year, including the top four. The Griffins averaged 1.35 goals per game last year while attempting 11.2 shots per contest.
Heather Hillam scored seven goals and 16 points in 2010 to lead the team.
Nicole Taylor and
Jessica Harris had three goals apiece.
Sarah Swenson had two goals and fired a team-best 21 shots on goal.
Lindsay Bekken returns in goal after posting a 1.01 goals against average last season. Bekken made 79 saves with a 79.8% save percentage in 2010.
Dayna Winter-Nolte returns after one year off. Winter-Nolte has played 36 games in goal for the Griffins with a career 1.66 GAA.
Dumke Advantage
The Griffins have posted a 19-8-1 all-time record on the fast surface of Dumke Field. They have never dropped more than two games in a season and went 5-2-0 at home last year. Westminster plays nine games at home this year including the first five on the slate.
Playing the Best
The Westminster women's soccer team is playing maybe the toughest slate of games in school history this season. The Griffins will face five teams that qualified for the 2010 NAIA National Championships and 11 opponents that won at least 10 games last season.
The 15 teams on the 2011 schedule combined to go 153-98-32 (.597) last season. They combined to win eight games at the national tournament with no team that qualified losing an opening round contest.
Frontier Conference vs. Cal Pac Conference
On Saturday, November 12 the champion of the Frontier Conference and the champion of the Cal Pac Conference will play for an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championships. That game will be played on Dumke Field with a start time yet to be announced.
