The 25th-ranked Carroll College (Frontier Conference, NAIA) women’s team opened the season with a non-league victory against Northwest University (Cascade Collegiate Conference, NAIA) Thursday in Helena, Mont. The match was the first official game of the season for any of the schools in the Inland Northwest.
Macie Netz (Great Falls, MT) opened the scoring for Carroll in the 28th minute of the contest only to see Northwest level terms three minutes later via Lindsey Field (Ontario, OR).
Field’s goal and a first half 9-3 advantage in shots though were not enough as Christa Saur (Boise, ID) struck another four minutes later for a 2-1 lead at the break. Kelsey Dye locked up the victory for Carroll with the third strike six minutes into the second half.
"I'm proud of the girls for going out hard and creating quality chances, but we just struggled putting it away," said NU coach Erin Redwine, who also coaches Issaquah SC of the WPSL. "We will learn from this experience and keep building. I was proud of Sam Porter for making such an impact as a freshman."
Northwest, featuring five players from the INW, has two more matches in Montana on the trip with a match against Montana State Saturday and meeting with Rocky Mountain College Monday. Both are in Billings. Carroll plays host to the University of Mary Sunday.
