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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College women's soccer team will hit the road for the first time of the 2011 season this week.  Westminster will face William Carey on Friday at 7 p.m. before facing the University of Mobile on Saturday at 7 p.m.  Both games will be played at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala.
 
Griffin Notebook
Westminster will take a 4-1 overall record on the road with them.  The Griffins have won four straight and haven't allowed a goal in 190 minutes after posting consecutive shutouts at home last week.  The team is averaging 2.6 goals per game and attempt 14.2 shots per game.

Margo Hickman has scored a team-best four goals and has added two assists for 10 points.  Heather Hillam, Sarah Swenson and Carissa Cooper have all scored two goals with three others striking once.  Hillam has one assist for five points and Alyssa Hill has added two assists to her one goal.

Dayna Winter-Nolte has a GAA of 1.05 to start the year while making 18 saves.  Her .783 save percentage has carried the senior to four wins and one shutout.
 
Game Coverage
At this time there will be no live stats or video streaming for this week's games. Should something change the updates will be provided at WestminsterGriffins.com.
 
Friday's Opponent: William Carey
William Carey enters the week with a 1-0 overall record and ranked No. 7 in the coaches' poll.  They defeated Texas at Brownsville 5-3 on Aug. 27 to start the year.  The Crusaders fell behind 1-0 in the third minute before scoring three straight goals.  The game was tied at 3-3 in the 58th minute before William Carey scored goals in the 74th and 86th minutes to seal the win.

Malin Barrulf, Tori McDevitt and Sasha Rodriguez all finished the game with one goal and one assist for three total points.  McDevitt had a team-best two shots on goal.  Gemma Layfield made nine saves at goalie.
 
Saturday's Opponent: Mobile
Mobile begins the week at 0-1-1 on the year and slipped from 13th to 22nd in the coaches' top 25 poll.  After beginning the season with a 0-0 tie against Texas at Brownsville, the Rams dropped a 3-2 decision against Northwood (Fla.) on Sept. 3.

Jesslyn Faqundes has a team-best two points with his goal against Northwood.  Christy Lachappelle fired a team-best six shots on goal with Kassie Ruff getting two shots on frame.  Lorna Brownile has made 11 saves with a .786 save percentage.
 
Looking Back
Westminster picked up two home wins last week to run the current winning streak to four games.  The Griffins picked up a 1-0 win in overtime against Biola last Friday.  They then picked up a second straight shutout with a 4-0 win over Great Falls on Monday.

Hickman Streaking
Junior forward Margo Hickman has recorded at least one point in all five games this season.  She began the year by becoming the first player in school history to score a goal in four consecutive games.  While she had that streak snapped during Monday's win over Great Falls, she did notch an assist in that game.

Hickman leads the team with 10 points and ranks second in the Frontier in that category.  Her four goals also rank second in the league and her 0.80 goals per game is fourth-best in the conference.  She is also tied for first in the conference with two assists.
 
Rising Freshman
Freshman forward Carissa Cooper has made an immediate impact for the Griffins.  She has now made three starts and played 189 minutes to start her career.  Cooper has fired five shots in her first five games and scored two goals against Rocky Mountain on Monday.  She also scored in the exhibition game against Iowa Western at Rio Tinto.  The school record for goals by a freshman in a season is five set by Kate Stoner in 2008.
 
Players of the Week
The Westminster College women's soccer team picked up both Frontier Conference players of the week awards.  Hickman was named the offensive player of the week while Winter-Nolte received the defensive honor. Hickman, a 5-foot-6 junior forward from Boise, Idaho, scored two goals including the game winner in overtime against Biola. She became the first player in Westminster school history to score a goal in four consecutive games.  This is the first weekly honor for Hickman.

Winter-Nolte, a 5-foot-6, senior goalie from San Diego, Calif., allowed two goals and had six saves.  This is the second consecutive week that Winter-Nolte has won the award and the fourth time in her career.
 
Dumke Advantage
The Griffins have posted a 23-9-1 all-time record on the fast surface of Dumke Field.  They have never dropped more than two games in a season and have started 4-1 at home this season.  Westminster plays nine games at home this year including the first five on the slate.  They went 5-2 at home in 2010.
 
Massey Ratings
The current Massey Ratings that were released on Monday have the Griffins at No. 15.  They have a rating of 0.567 and rank second among teams from the Frontier Conference.  According to the ratings, Westminster has played the 11th toughest schedule so far 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.
 
Checking the Polls
Westminster sits just outside the top 25 in the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll that was released on Tuesday.  The Griffins received 86 points are the top rated team in the others receiving votes department.  The 86 points are the most the team has ever received in the poll.  The next top 25 poll will be released on Sept. 13.

Westminster also sits second in the Frontier/Cal Pac rankings that were released on Monday.  Carroll holds the top spot in the rankings.  The next conference rankings will be released on Sept. 12.
 
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.  Westminster will also face seven teams that are ranked in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll and two more that received votes in the poll.
 
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.