SALT LAKE CITY – The 16th-ranked Westminster women's soccer team returns home this week to play three games in four days at Dumke Field. They begin the week by playing back-to-back games with Antelope Valley (Calif.) on Thursday and Friday at 4 p.m. MT. The Griffins will close the action on Sunday with a 1 p.m. Frontier Conference games against Great Falls (Mont.).
 
The games on Friday and Sunday will be broadcast live on Griffins TV which is available online and through the Livestream app on mobile devices and Roku players. Live stats will be available for all of the games at Dumke Field this week.
 
Griffin Notebook
Westminster returns to Dumke Field after finishing 2-1 during a road trip that concluded on Monday. The Griffins are 8-1-1 on the season and ranked 16th in this week's edition of the NAIA Coaches' Poll. The No. 16 ranking is the highest ranking in school history.
 
The Griffins enter the week averaging 2.3 goals per game and they have notched an assist on 15 of the team's 23 goals. They average 15.7 shots per game and 6.8 shots per every goal scored. Westminster is putting 51 percent of their shot attempts on goal while also taking 59 corner kicks.
 
Westminster is limiting the opposition to 0.40 goals per game and forcing 16.5 shots per every goal allowed. Opponents are taking 6.6 shots per game with 51.5 percent of those attempts on goal. The Griffins lead the NAIA with seven shutouts on the season and they are 10th by averaging 0.7 shutouts per game played.
 
Rylei North leads the team with seven goals and she is 35th in the NAIA in that category. She has taken a team-leading 37 shots with 24 of them on goal. Lexi Tucker is second on the team with 11 points behind four goals and three assists. Nicole Carter is tied with Tucker for the team lead in assists with three and Abby Holbrook has three goals and one assist for seven points.
 
Abi Yanke has recorded eight wins and six shutouts in goal for the Griffins. The junior ranks ninth in the NAIA with her 0.40 goals-against-average while also making 27 saves for an .871 save percentage. Breanna Empey has made one appearance in goal with one save in 27 minutes.
 
About Antelope Valley
Antelope Valley visits Salt Lake City at 4-4-1 on the season and coming off a 1-0 loss to Cal State San Bernardino on Sept. 16. The Pioneers average 1.22 goals per game and attempt 10.22 shots per game. They only surrender 0.78 goals per game. Katelyn Christensen leads the team with 11 points behind her five goals and one assist. Alejandra Valdivia has played six games in goal with a 0.48 goals-against-average and .909 save percentage.
 
About Great Falls
Great Falls makes the trip to Utah at 4-3-1 on the season and they are 0-1 in the Frontier Conference after dropping a 2-1 decision at Carroll (Mont.) last Saturday. The Argonauts are scoring 2.13 goals per game while taking 20.38 shots in those games. Danielle De La Vina is 11th in the NAIA with 10 goals scored and she leads the nation with an average of 4.88 shots on goal per game. Jocelyn Morris has a 0.94 goals-against-average on the year while making 6.0 saves per game.
 
School Record Ranking
The NAIA released its first regular season edition of the coaches' top 25 poll on Tuesday and it had the Griffins ranked at No. 16 with 266 points. This is the highest ranking in school history, surpassing the No. 19 ranking the team held on Dec. 6, 2011. This is the first top 25 poll featuring the Griffins since Oct. 16, 2012 which is a span of 18 polls.
 
Record Unbeaten Streak
By opening the season going unbeaten in their first nine games, the Griffins established a new school record unbeaten span of 14 games dating back to last season. The 2-1 loss at then-No. 14 Spring Arbor (Mich.) was the team's first loss since a 2-1 loss to Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Oct. 20, 2013. During the 14-game stretch, Westminster outscored the opposition 29-4 with 11 shutouts and a 12-0-2 record.
 
Scoring Streak
The Griffins have also been on a school-record streak when it comes to scoring goals. They entered 2014 having scored in a school-record tying nine-straight games. They have scored at least one goal in every game this season to extend the streak to 19 consecutive games with a goal scored. Over that time Westminster has outscored the opposition 45-10 while posting a 13-2-4 record.
 
Second Half Success
Westminster has been dominate in the second half of games this season. They have outscored the opposition 14-2 in the final 45 minutes of action while holding an 83-34 advantage in shots after intermission. The Griffins have found three game-winners after the 75th minutes of play, including twice from Abby Holbrook.
 
Record Within Reach
Junior Rylei North leads the team with seven goals this season and she now has 17 goals in her career. She currently ranks third in school history for career goals and sits just three from tying Heather Hillam for the all-time lead. North ranks fifth in program history with 35 career points which is 10 off the record held by Hillam and Margo Hickman. North currently holds the school record for points per game (1.35) and goals per game (0.65). She has also scored in the last three games which is one off the school record of four consecutive games with a goal.
 
Model of Consistency
Since coming to Westminster for the 2011 season, Miranda Olsen has appeared in all 70 games the team has played. The senior currently ranks ninth in school history in games played and sixth in minutes played with 5,179. Her 70 consecutive games played in the fourth-longest span in school history and she also sits third all-time by starting the past 52 games.
 

Consecutive Games Played
1.	80	Heather Hillam	2008-11
	80	Sarah Swenson	2008-11
3.	72	Rachel Watson	2007-10
4.	70*	Miranda Olsen	2011-14
Consecutive Games Started
1.	80	Heather Hillam	2008-11
2.	62	Sarah Swenson	2008-11
3.	52*	Miranda Olsen	2011-14

Climbing the Charts
Abi Yanke has been stellar in goal for the Griffins this season and she is currently ninth in the country with a 0.40 goals-against-average. The junior is the Westminster all-time leader with her career 0.56 GAA and .823 save percentage. Yanke ranks second all-time at Westminster with 16 victories and 14 shutouts, including six this season.
 

Career Wins Leaders
1.	31	Dayna Winter-Nolte	2008-09,11-12
2.	16	Abi Yanke	2012-14
Career Shutout Leaders
1.	18	Dayna Winter-Nolte	2008-09,11-12
2.	14	Abi Yanke	2012-14

Double Figure Wins
Westminster has been consistent in the past four seasons where they have notched at least 11 wins and finished with a winning record in each of those seasons. The Griffins are 57-28-8 (.656) since the start of the 2010 season and they have made two trips to the NAIA National Championships. During that span, only 26 teams across the NAIA have had double-digit victories in all four seasons.
 
Home Cooking
The Griffins have been stellar at Dumke Field since the inception of the program in 2007. They have a 45-13-5 all-time record on the home turf and they are 3-0-1 at home this season. Westminster won a school-record nine-straight home games during the 2011 campaign and extended it to 16-straight unbeaten when carried into the 2012 season.
 
Looking Ahead
Westminster will take next week off before taking a trip to Montana for a pair of games the following week. They play at Rocky Mountain on Oct. 11 before a contest at Great Falls on Oct. 12.