Whitworth College opens the 2006 women's soccer season this weekend with a pair of challenging matches in California. The Pirates will officially begin the season on Saturday at 10:00 am at Pomona-Pitzer. Sunday's match against UC Santa Cruz will take place at 1:00 pm at Chapman University.

Meghan Johnson

Whitworth is coming off of an 8-8-3 season, including a 7-7-2 mark in the NWC. The Pirates lost two key players early in the season to injury, and battled the injury bug with other players throughout the year. Meghan Johnson (formerly Hudson) is the leading returning scorer. She had four goals and an assist in 2005.

Pomona-Pitzer is opening its season in search of another Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SCIAC) title. The Sagehens finished 11-5-3 overall last season, winning the conference title with a record of 8-2-2. They lost 3-0 at Hardin-Simmons in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Pirates have never played Pomona-Pitzer.

UCSC was denied an NCAA tournament berth after finishing the regular season 11-3-3, including a win at Pomona-Pitzer. Whitworth has not played the Banana Slugs since the 2001 season when the Pirates won a 1-0 overtime contest in California.

Whitworth will enter the weekend with junior Leah Motz in goal. Sophomore Krista Deitz suffered a knee injury during fall training camp, and her status for the rest of the season is uncertain.