WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - "It's like Christmas Eve, excuse the pun," said Head Coach Barry Christmas as the West Liberty women's soccer team finished their final preparations for the 2022 season opener tomorrow evening at Seton Hill.

Excitement is in the air for both the players and coaches after an extended preseason due to the festival year the Hilltoppers are ready to get back on the field.

Even though WLU tied its season-high in wins with a 6-9-3 record last season, they have a sour taste leftover from the final six games. Riding their best start in program history, the Hilltoppers sat at 6-3-3 with six contests remaining. Key contributors suffered injuries and opportunities slipped past them resulting in the 'Toppers dropping all six of those matches to end the season.

"Hopefully we've learned from that as a group," said Coach Christmas reflecting on the end of last season. "A lot of the games last year were defined by little moments and we are going to have to be more alive and aware of those crunch time moments to be successful this season."

After three seasons of just missing the MEC playoffs, the Hilltoppers have a mix of veteran leaders and young talent and are on a quest to return. 

West Liberty returns 20 players to the roster and welcomes 12 newcomers. "There are players with a lot of experience that are returning," said Christmas. "They have served as great role models and leaders to the incoming players." 

The fresh faces on the Hilltopper roster have impressed the coaching staff. "I knew they were pretty good, but the influence that they are having has provided great competition for every spot on the field," expressed Christmas.

Goalkeeper is one of the most wide open positions heading into 2022, with no returning keepers that saw time. Three freshmen, Emma Rogers, Zara Wickert, and Abby Morningstar, along with redshirt freshman, Libby Finn, will battle it out for the starting spot.

Coach noted that the Seton Hill and Salem games to start the season will be opportunities for the Hilltoppers to focus in on both the mental and physical aspects of the game before Mountain East play rolls around on September 7 at West Family Athletic Complex against Notre Dame (Ohio).

Follow the Hilltoppers all season online at HilltopperSports.com, as well as on Twitter (@WLU_WSoccer, @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_wsoccer | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.