Late recruiting changes have led to the Northwest College women’s soccer team still adding players despite the preseason beginning, but coach Rob Hill is hopeful the athletes he has brought in can help the Trappers have another successful season.

Currently the Trappers have 18 players rostered on the team, with Hill believing they will reach 21 in the coming weeks, after having late returners opting out early in the summer to leave the team with seven returning sophomores.

“Unfortunately we had a lot of late people dropping out for various reasons, and it left me late having to recruit,” Hill said. “Talent level, we are deeper. We had 24 players last year, of which five got injured and we were down to 19. We’re at 18 right now, 19 in another week. But talent-wise, we’ve got more depth. I just feel like there’s more technical ability, and I just feel like there will be more players able to contribute.”

He said that despite having essentially a month to finish recruiting for this year’s team he feels they have been able to get some good players in, including a pair from Poland in Nikola Urbaniak and Aleksandra Mik.

Additional freshmen incoming include Sophia Body from New Zealand, Natalie Harris from England, Kali Bach from Boise, Idaho, Keilyn Cerdas from Costa Rica and Powell’s Coy Erickson, who has joined the Trappers as a dual-sport athlete to be the keeper this season.

Returning players Hill believes have shown strong improvement include Lexie Bordessa and Josie Etheridge.

“There’s been a difference in attitude in them returning now that they know what to expect,” Hill said. “So a new team, but a lot of talent. I think the big thing for them is getting used to the physicality, the intensity, the speed of play.”

After losing a number of goal scorers from last season the Trappers will need to find a new scoring threat up top, as Northwest lost a former All-American and NCAA Division I player.

“Hard to replace Elli [Lewis],” Hill said. “But I feel like we’ve got different players to Ellie that can do different things. They’re not quite the power she is and the physical threat, but certainly technically, there’s certainly ability to finish. The physical skill of Elli? What she brought that’s hard to replace, but I still feel like we’ve got weapons and I think the biggest thing is them adjusting to the pace and the physicality.”

He said that adjusting to the physicality continues to be the most important thing that rings true, following a difficult start by last year’s freshmen who took longer to adjust to the pace of play than expected.

“Last year’s freshmen took until the middle of the season, then they went on a tear and didn’t lose until the quarterfinals, but they have to adjust earlier and I think these early games will help them,” Hill said. 

The Trappers head up to Montana for several scrimmages to start the preseason, which began on Wednesday in Billings against Rocky Mountain College.

Northwest continues the trek in Montana against the University of Providence at 10 a.m. on Saturday before ending with a game against Carroll College at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

“I’m looking for everyone to contribute. I’m looking to see how they can handle teams like Rocky and Providence. They’ve had a good week of training, I feel like they’re adapting well,” Hill said. “They’re very coachable, I just think there’s a difference between practice and games because often they get used to the refereeing tempo, match preparation, the standards, all the things that come with the games.”

He’s hoping the Trappers can get up to speed while remaining healthy, as a couple of early injuries have players resting in the preseason and only 14 likely to play in these first scrimmages.

The regular season begins next Friday on the road at Western Nebraska Community College, and the first home game for the Trapper women is against Trinidad State College on Sept. 11.