GUNNISON, Colo. – The undefeated Western State Colorado University Mountaineer women's soccer team heads to Billings, Montana for a pair of matches this week. Western (1-0-1, 0-0 RMAC) will play two neutral site matches, with the first against the University of Mary and the second against San Francisco State University.
 
Western will start the trip against Mary at 2 p.m. on Thursday on the Yellowjacket Soccer Field at the Montana State University – Billings campus. The next test will come against SFSU at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Live stats and a live video stream will be available for both matches.
 
The Mountaineers head into the second week of the season after hosting the first two contests of the year in Gunnison. Western opened the season with a scoreless double overtime draw against Eastern New Mexico University. Goalkeeper Katie Simpson-Johnson (Jr., Boulder, Colorado) made a school record 13 saves to secure the shutout. This earned the junior a nomination for the Women's Soccer HERO of the Week, which recognizes the top soccer performances and allows fans to vote for the player they believe is most deserving.
 
Simpson-Johnson currently leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) in every statistical category for goalkeepers – minutes (203:14), goals against average (.000), saves (21), save percentage (1.000), shutouts per game (2), saves per game (10.50).
 
The following match, Western earned the first win of 2016 after Jessica Kresl (Jr., Aztec, New Mexico) found the back of the net, four minutes into the first overtime against Montana State University – Billings.
 
Kresl is second in the RMAC with 13 shots, averaging 6.5 shots per game.
 
It will be the first time in program history that the Mountaineers face either Mary or SFSU.
 
Thursday will be the season-opening match for the University of Mary. Last season, the Marauders finished with a 3-12-2 overall record and a 3-11-1 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Megan Searson is the Marauders' top returner after leading the team in points, with 13 in 2015.
 
Prior to Saturday's matchup, SFSU will face host school MSUB on Thursday at 5 p.m. following Western's match. The Gators enter the week looking for their first win of the season after losing the season opener 2-1 to Central Washington University and drawing 2-2 against Dominican University of California on Sunday.
 
So far this season, Sierra Sagasta leads SFSU in goals scored with two. However, SFSU's Autumn Fox returns for her senior season after leading the team in goals scored last season.