The Pacific women’s soccer program looks to continue its historic run of non-conference success and make a mark in one of the toughest soccer conferences in the country in 2023.

The Tigers are coming off a season in which they lost only three games with no non-conference losses and two straight wins to end the season finishing 7-3-10. The NCAA eliminated overtime in regular-season games last season and Pacific had a record 10 games end in a tie.

The Tigers have high expectations. This season is the third for co-head coaches Danesha Adams and J.J. Wozniak. The duo has added 10 freshmen, backing a strong recruiting class from last season with eight returning sophomores.

The squad includes three juniors, four seniors and four student-athletes returning for a fifth season. Three of the four fifth-year players have been at Pacific for all five seasons, seeing the program improve from 4-24-3 in the first two seasons with just one West Coast Conference win to 17-9-13 over the last two years.

The Tigers have now played 17 nonconference games without a loss, winning the final six games of the 2021 nonconference season and going unbeaten in 2022 at 5-0-6, including finishing in a deadlock with several notable programs including Oregon State, Iowa, Fresno State, San Jose State and UC Santa Barbara. Pacific has just one loss over the 21 nonconference games played in the last two seasons with a 13-1-7 against nonconference opponents.

“Our players are really looking forward to the season and our pursuit to win the West Coast Conference championship and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament,” Wozniak said. “We know this is no easy task but the winning expectations and standards our players have established the last two seasons are firmly entrenched in our current group of Tigers.”

Despite graduating 11 seniors, the Tigers retained plenty of depth for the upcoming season while adding several exciting newcomers.

Fifth-year seniors Lauren Frohan and Ryanne Molenaar will lead the attack for the Tigers up front; Jaida Nyby, an honorable mention All-WCC performer last season, has been one of the best midfielders in the conference and is coming off scoring a career-high four goals in 2022.

Junior Aniela Jensen, who made several international appearances with New Zealand last year, and sophomore Alexis Pashalas will join Nyby in the midfield, providing attacking opportunities for sophomores Anaya Shelton and Haley Johnson up top.

Fifth-year fullback Hana Rosenblatt will provide strength on the back line while also providing an attacking threat, recording a career-high four assists in 2022. Senior Laila Saravia will be back in her familiar role of center defensive midfielder and will anchor a young defense.

With the graduation of goalkeepers Brenna Crump and Weronika Baranowska, the Tigers have three keepers who will battle in training camp for playing time. Senior Julianna Alexander and freshmen Libby Davy from South Australia and Hannah McFarlane from Kansas will gain valuable experience this season as they compete for a spot that is wide open.

Pacific opens with home matches against UC San Diego to start the season on Thursday, August 17, before welcoming Eastern Washington on Sunday, August 20. The Tigers also have key nonconference games with UC Santa Barbara (August 27) and Fresno State (September 14). Defending conference champion Santa Clara (October 14), Portland (September 30), Gonzaga (October 18) and San Francisco (November 4) are the home WCC opponents.

“The non-conference portion of our season will help in so many ways to make sure we are ready to go when WCC play begins,” said co-head coach Danesha Adams. “Most notably, the opportunity to develop our group of players together in different environments and against a variety of opponents and styles will make sure we are battle-tested heading into our conference opener."

Matches played at Knoles Field are free to attend. See the full schedule. Fans can follow the action on social media.