Hannah Westerman
Staff Writer
The soccer season has begun, and for the Colorado College’s women’s team, this season marks the switch to a new conference: Mountain West. The change in conferences means new opponents and new opportunities for the team to improve.
On Aug. 15, the Tigers hosted an exhibition game against University of Nebraska. The Tigers started off strongly, and the scores remained close throughout a majority of the match. However, Nebraska scored twice in the last ten minutes of the game causing the Tigers to lose 5-3.
A week later, on Aug. 22, the season officially kicked off with an away game at the University of Northern Colorado. Unfortunately, it was another loss for the Tigers. UNC scored three times in the first half. Junior midfielder Sarah Schweiss scored once in the first half and again in the second, but CC was unable to gain the lead. The final score was 3-2. With this victory against CC, UNC broke their 15-game losing streak.
The Tigers came back strong a couple days later at home to defeat rival University of Denver. DU started off in the lead with two goals early in the first half, but CC was undeterred. Senior forward Rachel Herron scored CC’s first goal less than a minute after DU scored their second. Then, CC took the lead in the second half with two goals by Sarah Schweiss.
Schweiss tied the score with around 20 minutes into the second half. And then, with a strong pass from senior forward Jaclyn Silsby, Schweiss scored the winning goal with only 7:02 remaining in the game. Schweiss used her head in a defensive play, which prevented Denver from tying things up in the last 20 seconds. The final score was 3-2.
After her impressive performances, it is no surprise that Schweiss was recognized as the conference Offensive Player of the Week. This makes her the first Tiger to be named a Mountain West Player of the Week.
“It was very exciting to be named Mountain West conference Offensive Player of the Week. I wouldn’t have gotten the honor without my team. It’s a team effort to win games and score goals,” said Schweiss.
This is only Schweiss’ second season at CC and she has already reached 39th place on the program’s career points list. The match against UNC was the first multiple-goal game of her career.
On Aug. 30, the Tigers traveled to Colgate University for a non-conference match. It ended in a 0-0 tie. On a positive note, freshman goaltender Rowan Frederiksen recorded her first career shutout. Frederiksen stopped a total of 11 shots. This was the first time that CC played to a 0-0 tie since October 20, 2013 against University of Texas- San Antonio.
The 2014 season has already had its ups and downs, but overall it is a promising start to the Tigers’ inaugural season in the Mountain West conference.
When asked what the team would like to accomplish this season, Schweiss answered, “This year our team is very excited to be a part of the new conference. One of our goals is to make a statement and win the Mountain West our first year. We also want to make it back to the NCAA tournament. In order for all of this to happen, we have to work hard together as a team every chance we get.”
The 2014 Colorado College Invitational begins today, Sept. 5, with University of Marquette vs. New Mexico at 1 p.m. and Colorado College vs. Weber State University at 4 p.m.