The Westminster women's soccer team travels to Hawaii this week to open the season with three games in five days against teams from the Pac West Conference. The Griffins start the season on Thursday against Hawaii Pacific at 7 p.m. MT and they play at BYU-Hawaii on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. MT. The finale of the trip is slated for Monday against Chaminade at 6 p.m. MT.
 
This is the second time that the Griffins have made this trip to Hawaii to play these three schools. During the same trip in 2009, Westminster went 1-2 against the Hawaii schools.
 
COVERING THE GRIFFINS
Live video during the trip will only be available for the game at Hawaii Pacific on Thursday. HPU charges $7.95 for access to watch the games.
 
All three games will have live stats available. Access to all features is available by clicking here.
 
FOLLOWING WESTMINSTER WOMEN'S SOCCER
Make sure to like Westminster Griffins on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and You Tube for the latest news about the Griffins.
 
Fans can stay connected with Westminster Women's Soccer by following @westminster_womens_soccer on Instagram.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster starts the ninth season of women's soccer in 2015 and they begin play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Griffins are coming off back-to-back trips to the NAIA National Championships and they went 15-4-2 last season in winning the Frontier Conference title.
 
The team returns 16 players from last season, including two of the top three goal scorers and the goalkeeper that started every game. While they lost many scoring threats from last year, the backline returns three starters to a defense that had a 0.70 goals-against-average in 2014.
 
Senior Rylei North is back after scoring a school record 16 goals last season. North was the Unaffiliated Conference Player of the Year and was named honorable mention NAIA All-American. She is the school's all-time leader in goals (26) and points (55), while also scoring eight game-winning-goals and attempting 122 shots.
 
North will be joined up top by junior Madison Roemer and her four goals from last season. Roemer became a starter towards the end of 2014 and finished second on the team in goals and fourth in points. Heidi Lorschider is back in the midfield after posting two goals and three assists last season.
 
Maddie Lewis and Megan Molumby return at defense after they combined to play in 93 percent of game time last season. Lewis, a junior, led all field players in minutes at 1,865 and she has played in 35 consecutive games with 33 straight starts. Molumby has played in 57 games with the Griffins, more than any player on this year's team, and she ranks seventh in team history with 4,514 minutes played.
 
Abi Yanke leads a trio of keepers on the roster. Yanke, a senior, started all 21 games in 2014 and finished with a 0.72 goals-against-average. She recorded a .789 save percentage and posted eight shutouts. Yanke opens the season fourth in team history with 94 career saves and she holds the school record with a 0.69 GAA.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
•    Hawaii Pacific – The Sharks are coming off its best season in school history in 2014, going 11-4-2, good for third place in the PacWest. Despite this, the PacWest coaches slotted HPU in fourth. The Sharks boast nine seniors on this year's team, including 2014 All-PacWest honorable mention Sierra Kadooka and all-region and first team All-PacWest member Erika Ellis.
 
•    BYU-Hawaii – The Seasiders open a new campaign after finishing 4-13-0 in 2014. BYUH lost most of its offensive attack with Kate Orchard back after scoring three goals last season. They lost both keepers that saw time last season and will look to Kelsey East or Daryl Kaufusi to fill that spot. The Seasiders were selected to finish 11th in the Pac West Conference.
 
•    Chaminade – The Silverswords took big steps last season, achieving several firsts including its winningest season in program history. Twelve letterwinners and eight starters return including forward Twyla Hamasaki who earned All-PacWest Second Team honors last season. The Iolani School alumnus enters her final season of eligibility already the program's all-time leader in goals (11) and points (25). Also returning is forward Lauren Uehara who started all 15 games last year.
 
SEASON OPENERS
Westminster starts the new season having won its past three season opening contests. After going just 1-4 in the first game of the season over the first five years of the program, the Griffins have started off strong with wins the past three seasons. Last season, the team won its first four contests that started with a 1-0 win at Weber State.
 
HOME DOMINANCE
The Griffins have been stellar on the home turf of Dumke Field in the history of the program. The team is 49-13-6 (.765) at home all-time and they posted a 16-game unbeaten streak from August 2011 through September 2012. They enter this season unbeaten in 10 straight games at Dumke Field dating back to the end of the 2013 season.
 
RMAC PRESEASON POLL
Westminster begins its first season in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2015 and they were picked to finish 12th in a poll of the league's coaches that was released last month. The Griffins received 18 points in the poll. Colorado Mines was chosen as the favorite to win the RMAC title after winning the regular season and tournament titles last season.
 
ALL-TIME SCORING LEADER
Rylei North begins her senior season as the Westminster career leader with 26 goals and 55 points. She scored a school record 16 goals in 2014 and she is the only player in school history with two 10-goal seasons. North is second in team history with eight game-winning goals and 79 shots on goal while sitting fourth in shot attempts with 122.
 
STARTER IN CAGE
Abi Yanke starts her senior campaign as the Westminster career leader with her 0.69 goals-against-average. She has started the last 35 games played by the team with a 23-7-5 record in those starts. Yanke is second in school history with 16 shutouts and 23 wins. Her 94 saves are fourth-most in team history and she is third with a career .790 save percentage.
 
UP NEXT
After playing three games in five days to start the season, Westminster won't return to action until Sept. 18 when they host Colorado Christian in the RMAC opener at Dumke Field. They will also welcome Colorado School of Mines to Dumke Field on Sept. 20.