Women’s Soccer Welcomes Storm Saturday In Exhibition Opener

STOCKON, Calif. – The Pacific women's soccer team will take to the pitch for an exhibition with the WPSL's California Storm Saturday at 11 a.m. at Stagg Memorial Stadium.

The Tigers, featuring 15 returnees from last season, have been in preseason camp since August 2, preparing for the season opener on Friday, August 19 against Nevada (7 p.m. at Stagg Memorial Stadium).

"The team is training really hard," head coach Keith Coleman said.  "They get along extremely well – it's a tight knit group. But it'll be really nice to play someone else besides going against each other like they have for the last 12 days.  They're excited for the opportunity."

Pacific will have six returning starters for 2011, including forward and captain Laura Hogan and  2010 Second Team All-Big West forward Kristina Wavomba up top, 2010 Second Team All-Big West selection Alex Topp and 2009 Big West Midfielder Of The Year and First Team pick Angelica Figueroa in the midfield. Lauren Olvera and 2010 Big West Freshman of the Year Brittni Beeman anchor the Tigers defense which allowed just six goals to unranked teams last season. Taking over between the pipes is sophomore Tashia Long, who held opponents to a 1.10 goals against average last season in six games, totaling 328 minutes.

Nine Tigers are set to make their debuts, as the Pacific freshman class will take the pitch for the first time.

"We've got a lot of new faces, and we're trying to figure out how to plug people in and put the best possible team on the field, and maximizes their talent," Coleman continued. "We have a pretty good idea of what our foundation is. But now we have to build on that. After that, we can keep training hard and get ready for Nevada. "