Coach Berrios and his teams open with big wins.

Men's and Women's soccer opened the season against Providence Christian Thursday evening at Rose Mofford Sports complex. New head coach Alan Berrios had this to say about the home opener, "It was great to get the season started last night. The women have been working extremely hard in the past two and a half weeks. We were anxious to get our first game in and we wanted to ensure that we got off to a good start, win or lose, from an organizational perspective."

The first half started slowly with no goals scored until Dakota Wilkinson put one into the back of the net 29 minutes in. Play continued to be back and forth until Marissa Stevens netted a goal after 41 minutes of play. That was all the scoring that would take place in the first half, Arizona Christian up 2-0.

Providence Christian came into the game shorthanded with only 11 eligible players for the game, and that proved to be a game changer when two of their women were injured and they had to play with only 9. ACU took full advantage scoring 8 goals in the second half. Marissa Stevens and Makenna Newman both scored 3 goals apiece in the second half with other goals from Crista Ortiz and Taylor Baker. The final score ACU 10, Providence Christian 0.

After the game Coach Berrios added, "Going into the game we didn't know what to expect as we added many new faces to the team. We were pleasantly surprised with the chemistry on the field throughout the 90 minutes. 5 of the players that received the start last night are new to the team with one of them being a freshman in Taylor Baker. Junior college transfers Makenna Newman and Marissa Stevens had solid performances with 7 goals and 1 assist between the two. Junior Dakota Wilkinson opened up the scoring with great left footed strike just outside the 18. Senior Breana Duhamel was solid in the back line and her leadership really guided the team throughout the game. Having said this we still have a lot of work ahead of us in order prepare to play in one of the toughest NAIA conferences in the country."

The Providence Christian men's team could not get enough players eligible before their match, so they had to forfeit their game with the Firestorm. That means both the men's and women's teams opened the season with a win.

Both the men and women's teams are in action again Saturday afternoon at 1 and 3pm. The games will be played at Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) Peoria campus.