LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's soccer team has never sidestepped challenges to start the regular season, but if prime proof of that was needed the Knights' opening two games of 2018 should suffice.

At 4 p.m. (ET) Friday, Bellarmine makes its debut at sixth-ranked and five-time national champion Grand Valley State before playing at noon Sunday at Ferris State. Grand Valley State won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last season and Ferris State tied for third.

"We've always played some good opponents to start the season," Knights fifth-year Coach Chris Tinius said, "but this will indeed be the most difficult opening weekend as a whole in my tenure here." 

Bellarmine and Grand Valley State were originally supposed to play in their respective second games last season, but as a result of a severe storm in Louisville, they met in an opener at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium, and the Knights pulled off a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime victory. The Lakers had ended Bellarmine's season in the NCAA Midwest Regional in both 2014 and 2015, the latter of which was a Sweet 16 matchup.

"We certainly played very committed to each other and our game plan last year," Tinius said, "but it would also be naïve to think we didn't benefit from them preparing all week for a Friday game against (third-ranked) Columbus State and then having the schedule flipped due to the weather. We definitely won't sneak up on them this year! That said, revenge as a motivator only matters if a team is good enough to do anything about it. The real reason we can expect one of the best tests in our sport is because we will be playing well-coached, quality players coming from an environment that is second to none." 

Although it lost its first two games last season, Grand Valley State regrouped to finish 20-4, win the GLIAC regular-season and Tournament titles and capture the Midwest Region championship. The Lakers made their ninth straight appearance in the Elite Eight. All five of their national titles have come since 2009, the most recent a completion of a three-peat in 2015. The Bellarmine-GVSU match will be streamed on ESPN3.

"They are replacing some quality parts, but they will have good freshmen and some transfers with quality college experience," Tinius said. "We will need to be on point from the opening whistle, make sure we embrace the opportunity, battle for each other and see what happens."

Ferris State concluded the regular season last year with a 1-0 win over Grand Valley State, the only time all season the Lakers were shut out. The Bulldogs finished 11-8, including 6-3 in the GLIAC, and averaged nearly two goals per game.

"Ferris is another quality program," Tinius said. "They were in the mix for an NCAA bid last year, and just as much as the Grand Valley game, this could be a big one for both programs and both conferences to position themselves for down the road. They return their leading scorer (Carley Dubbert, nine goals) and leader in assists (Brandi Wagner, five) from last year, and we expect them to be organized and stingy defensively. This would be a very difficult one-off game, but add in the demands that will be placed on us on Friday and this will be one of the more stern challenges we face all year."

Bellarmine went 3-0 in the preseason, capturing exhibition wins over NAIA Marian (2-0) and Division III programs Spalding (7-0) and Centre (2-0). The Knights scored just 16 goals last season, so the offensive output was encouraging. Bellarmine's defense maintained the status quo after yielding a program-low eight goals last year.

"The good news in the attack is we have found ways to produce goals in some situations where we may have stalled out last year," Tinius said. "The thing to be careful with is we were able to create some of those moments purely from superior athleticism or individual work rate, and that won't always be enough moving forward. We still have a long way to go with our concentration as it pertains to timing and shape of runs and working off of each other's movement.

"Our team shape has been pretty good for the most part," Tinius noted of the defense. "That has been a cornerstone of our program the last few years, and we want it to remain that way. We do need to see more commitment to individual responsibility in defending. Team shape is one thing but if you slack off in individual battles it just takes one moment to change a game. We dodged a few of those specifically in the Centre game or maybe it's a different story. Still, three shutouts are obviously a good start there."

Whether his squad wins, loses, ties — or any combination of the three — Tinius will look for growth from the Knights after facing two formidable opponents at the outset of the season.

"This may sound funny, but the results this weekend aren't my biggest concern," he said. "Make no mistake about it: We certainly want to get the results, but I am much more interested in our reaction to what happens. Last year, we had a very productive preseason, got a huge opening win and the immediate reaction was to relax and lose focus. Obviously that game was an experience none of us would trade for anything, but in the big picture our reaction to it really set back our development for about a month. 

"As far as showing what we needed to do to shape our team, the best thing that happened to us last year wasn't beating Grand Valley, it was losing to Parkside. Whatever happens on Friday and Sunday, we will be a better team if we come out of the weekend with the proper response to learn and propel us forward."

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