LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's soccer team will open the 2015 regular season with a pair of road games in Ohio, including one against a fellow preseason favorite to win its conference.

The Knights will make their season debut at 4 p.m. (ET) on Friday at Lake Erie College before meeting Ursuline College at noon Sunday. The latter was picked by the Great Midwest Athletic Conference coaches to win the league championship, while Bellarmine was bestowed the same honor by the Great Lakes Valley Conference coaches.

"I'm looking forward to opening the season on the road," BU Coach Chris Tinius said. "We were fortunate to have preseason games at home, but the freshmen need to experience life on the road before we start conference games. Hopefully we can get results, but most importantly this is one of the few things that they haven't been exposed to yet, so it should help them grow."

In the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll, Lake Erie was picked to finish 11th after going 7-9-2 overall last season. Ursuline won the G-MAC's regular season and conference tournament titles last season while building a 15-4 overall record. The Arrows will welcome in Indianapolis on Friday before meeting the Knights.

"We don't have a great read on either opponent this early in the season," Tinius said. "I do know from some information from last year we can expect an athletic and gritty opponent in our first match.

"The G-MAC was still in the transition stage last year and didn't get an automatic bid, but they do this year, so conceivably we are playing an NCAA Tournament-type team in Ursuline. That's a challenge regardless of what else we learn, but hopefully we'll know more after they play Indianapolis on Friday."

Bellarmine defeated both Hanover College and Centre College 2-0 in exhibitions before scrimmaging Division II counterpart Saginaw Valley State (due to NCAA rules, results from matches classified as "scrimmages" are prohibited from being publicized). Junior forward Mary Beth Gorham scored both goals in the first exhibition, while freshman midfielder Polly Marino and freshman defender Caroline Lee accounted for the goals against Centre.

"While the preseason had its ups and downs as far as the quality of our soccer in training and games, I think it was extremely productive," Tinius said. "We threw a lot of information at the newcomers. It doesn't all stick at first, but I think we have a decent foundation to work from. The biggest thing is our work rate has been pretty consistent. If we keep that up we can solve problems as we go and continue to improve."

Friday marks the first official match for Bellarmine since the regional semifinals of the D-II NCAA Tournament. The Knights went 14-4-3 overall last season, including 11-1-3 in the GLVC.

"I think some excitement is building," Tinius said. "Hopefully it's not too big of a deal because we talk about approaching each training and playing opportunity with a similar focus. But we're not dealing with robots here, so if you don't have a few nerves and butterflies at the start of a new season then there's probably something wrong with you. You just have to find that balance of having a little bit of nervous energy to get you going without letting it distract you."

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Bellarmine at Lake Erie
Date: Friday, Sept. 4
Time: 4 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Britt Stadium

Bellarmine at Ursuline
Date: Sunday, Sept. 6
Time: Noon (ET)
Venue: Ursuline Soccer Field
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