Storm women’s soccer started the season off with confidence, a larger roster and an undefeated record.

The Storm battled last weekend to a 1-1 draw on Friday against Bethel and a 4-0 win against Crown College on Saturday during their trip to Minnesota. The team is currently undefeated, having gone 4-0-1 in the first five games of the season.

The Bethel game was an intense match-up between two teams with similar skill levels. Despite an early goal from Bethel, Simpson freshman Amber Johnson tied it up at the tail end of the first half. The rest of the game proved inconclusive as both teams’ defenses refused to let anything through.

The Crown match showcased Simpson’s offensive ability, shooting 44 times to Crown’s four attempts, that kept Crown on its heels for the duration of the game. This aggression paid off early as freshman Nicole Pirie scored twice in the first half with Lacey Davis and Amber Johnson each contributing a goal to cement the win. Though Crown’s goalie made a commendable 14 saves, it was simply not enough.

“I’ve only been on this team this season, but looking at the record of last year and hearing what Coach has to say, we have a lot of potential to do better and be better than the years before,” Pirie said. “I know that we have all worked extremely hard during pre-season, at practices and in games to get the results that we have.”

This fall the team added nine new freshmen members to the squad, reinforcing the women’s soccer program. Though they need to get used to the differences between college and high school programs, many seem to be embracing the challenge that the new environment provides.

“It is a lot more intense than high school,” freshman Amber Johnson said. “He (coach Ryan Sander) has us compete with each other a lot to make us work harder. But at the same time he makes it a lot of fun, too. We all seem pretty well conditioned which obviously helps out a ton for games.”

This season also marks the second year for head coach Ryan Sander. Hopes are high for Sander and the Storm after a solid 2010 season. In his first year as head coach Sander led the squad to a 7-11-1 record, advancing the team to the Iowa Conference Tournament.

Returning members of the Storm team also have high spirits. The team is looking forward to continued success for the remainder of the season after such a promising start.

“We have a great start to the season,” sophomore Ashley Motter said. “We are improving as the season goes on and hope to keep it going.”

The Storm will face Culver-Stockton at home on Sunday at 1 p.m.