ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – A mix of healthy, rehabilitated veterans teams up with a group of competitive, newcomers when Griffon Soccer begins its 2014 season at the GAC/MIAA Challenge in Searcy, Arkansas this weekend.

This week's schedule:
Friday, Sept. 5, 2014 7 p.m.:  vs. Harding University
Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014 12:30 p.m.: vs. East Central University
 
Information can be found through Harding Athletics website
 
Scouting the Griffons
Missouri Western returns several key players including Senior K.C. Ramsell, Senior Teddi Serna, Junior Sydney Andrews, Junior Drew Mantlo and Sophomore Taylor Gant.
Those five players started at least 17 games each last season.

Senior Tara Russell played nine games last season due to injury, but managed to lead the offense with four goals and one assist. Another key returner will be Sophomore Sarah Lyle.  The goalkeeper for the Griffons a season ago started 15 games. Lyle accumulated 111 saves throughout the season.

MWSU was pegged to finish 12th in the MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll, the same place they finished the 2013 season. In a conference where competition is tight, one or two games can make the difference between four of five places in the standings.

"The team's goal is to ultimately make the conference tournament. We have a lot of individual talent on the team and if we can play at the level we expect them to we can accomplish a lot of positives this year," Edwards said.

Harding University
The Lady Bisons finished last season with an 8-9-1 overall record and a 6-4-0 GAC record. Harding won its last five regular season games. The Lady Bisons defeated Ouachita Baptist 1-0 in the semifinals of the GAC Tournament but fell 2-0 to Southwestern Oklahoma in the finals.
The Lady Bisons return 13 letterwinners, including six starters.

Three players that were named 2^nd Team All-GAC in 2013 return for Harding - junior midfielder Audrey Adkison (3 goals and 3 assists), junior goalkeeper Kaitly Miller (5 shutouts) and sophomore defender Melita Sutherland (1 goal and 1 assists).

East Central University
The East Central University soccer team heads into the 2014 season with renewed energy and a healthier lineup after finishing the 2013 season with a 4-13 overall record.  A year ago, the Lady Tigers started the season with a key injury and had a second hit right at the beginning of the year.  But ECU is in a much better position having a much deeper lineup after a strong recruiting season and the return of those injured.

The Lady Tigers return a total of 20 letter winners and eight starters from last season and has added eight players to the roster.  That depth is expected to create more confidence and a sense of fight amongst the team to challenge each other throughout the season.