 | vs. |  |
#17 TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (0-0) vs. #11 THE MASTER'S (Calif.) MUSTANGS (0-0)
Tuesday, August 25 | 4:30 p.m.
Schartner Field | Deerfield, Ill.
| vs. |  |
#17 TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (0-0) vs. MARIAN (Ind.) KNIGHTS (0-0)
Saturday, August 29 | 4:00 p.m.
Schartner Field | Deerfield, Ill.
Quick Notes
• The nationally-ranked Trinity International Trojans will kick off the 2015 season on Tuesday, with a rematch of last year's NAIA Tournament Opening Round foe, The Master's (Calif.) The No. 17 Trojans will look to take the season opener over the No. 11 Mustangs after a 4-1 defeat in the national tourney a year ago.
• On Saturday, TIU will continue their non-conference schedule and season-opening homestand when they host Marian for the first meeting with the Knights in at least 13 years.
• Live video and stats of both matches will be available online, at TIUtrojans.com.
• Trinity will return eight of its eleven starters from a year ago, including two NAIA All-Americans in Samantha Yasatan and Morgan Elzinga. Yasatan set a new TIU record last season with 29 goals scored.
• Trinity International has won it's last three season-openers, defeating John Brown (Ark.) at Schartner Field, 4-1 in 2012, then going on the road and knocking off Siena Heights (Mich.) 2-1 and Bethel (Ind.) 7-3 in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
• The team is also coming off three straight seasons with 13 or more wins, and two consecutive appearances in the NAIA Women's Soccer Championship.
Last Time Out
• The Trojans reached the Opening Round of the NAIA Women's Soccer Championship last season, falling to 16th-ranked The Master's (Calif.), 4-1.
• Last week, the Trojans have secured victores in scrimmages with Waubonsee CC and Carthage (Wisc.), after playing multiple scrimmages during the team's preseason trip to Costa Rica.
In the Polls
• Trinity International earned its highest ranking in eight years, as the Trojans were slotted at No. 17 in the NAIA Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Top 25 Poll last week.
• Trinity improved six spots from their No. 23 ranking in the final 2014 poll, and have earned the program's highest ranking since the 2007 preseason poll, when the Trojans were selected No. 14. That season, TIU finished with an 11-8-2 overall record, reaching the NCCAA North Central Regional Final.
• TIU's appearance in the preseason poll also marks the fourth straight season that the Trojans have been nationally ranked at some point during the year.
• TIU has been ranked in the Preseason Poll eight times in program history, since the poll began in 1999. (2000-2002, 2007, 2012-15)
Scouting the Opponents
• The 11th-ranked Mustangs begin the season with a three-match road trip through the midwest, where they will take on three different nationally-ranked opponents. The Master's look to return to the NAIA Tournament, where they reached the round of 16. The Master's return a pair of attacking sophomores, Kellian Ahern and Sarah Stead, who each scored three goals in 2014, the highest total among returners.
• Marian will kick off their season on Wednesday, with a match at Rio Grande (Ohio) before coming to Deerfield. The Knights posted a 9-7-1 record a season ago under first-year head coach Gary Yohe. All-Crossroads Conference forward Olivia Annee returns for her junior season, along with senior forward Marianne Sergi, who scored four goals last year.
Champions of Character
• Last season, Trinity International earned the Karl Boeck Conference Champions of Character Award for the fourth consecutive year. The Trojans have gone six straight seasons without a single red card; in 2014, TIU was charged with two yellow cards over 20 matches, for the lowest per-match average in the CCAC.
Top Returners
• Senior forward Samantha Yasatan broke the Trinity International single-season record last year, scoring a total of 29 goals. That total placed her 4th in the NAIA, as the Racine, Wisc. native became TIU's first NAIA All-American for TIU since 1999.
• Fellow senior Morgan Elzinga earned NAIA All-American Honorable Mention honors last season, thanks in part to her eight game-winning goals throughout 2014. Elzinga ranked 3rd nationally in game-winners last year, and was also named to the NCCAA All-American 2nd Team.
• Defensive midfielder Kelsey Gill returns after being named an All-CCAC Team Honorable Mention as well as an NCCAA All-North Central Region selection.
• Five of the six players to earn NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors last year return to the squad in 2015; eight of the nine players who were named to the CCAC All-Academic Team also return.
New Trojans
• A total of 15 newcomers join the Trojans this season, from six different states across the country.
• McKenzie Chappell (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield HS) will join sophomore Surina Lewandowski as the team's two goalkeepers this season. The duo will look to fill in for Liz Burzynski, an All-CCAC Honorable Mention selection who graduated last spring.
• Midfielder Heather Ortiz (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland HS) joins her sister, sophomore Michelle Ortiz, on the team this season.
• Beth Grotelueschen (Round Lake, Ill./Mundelein HS) becomes the fifth member of her family to attend TIU, and the fourth to play for a varsity team. Her brothers Paul and Drew are alumni of the Trojan baseball program, and Jon is currently a senior on the team. Beth is also the daughter of TIU Baseball head coach Paul Grotelueschen, Sr.
• Midfielder Kelsey Dejno (Kenosha, Wisc./Tremper HS) also has a sibling at Trinity; her brother Jordan is a freshman on the men's soccer team.
