SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - The Lawrence Tech women's soccer team opens the season on Wednesday, August 19 at Bethel College (Ind.) starting at 4 p.m. from Morey Field in Mishawaka, Ind.

The program enters its fourth season in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) and looks to gain off of last year's five wins. The team brings back six seniors and seven juniors to a program that lost just one player to graduation.

"We have such a large number of incoming athletes for Fall 2015," said head coach Jamie Scott. "I am excited to watch the team evolve as the team synergy is high. I expect our incoming athletes to rise to the challenge of competing in the WHAC and I expect our returners to hold an equally high level of play."

Lawrence Tech welcomes seven new student-athletes to a roster of 23, including 13 upperclassmen. The Blue Devils return its top two goal scorers from last season, senior Claire Huddas (5) and junior Nicole Propst (4). Huddas is the first LTU women's soccer player to receive WHAC All-Conference Honorable Mention honors.

The Blue Devils play seven non-conference games this season including today's matchup against Bethel. It is the first of four straight games against teams from the state of Indiana. Following Bethel, the Saints host Indiana Wesleyan University before travelling to Goshen, Ind. The final game of that stretch welcomes St. Francis (Ind.) to LTU Athletic Field.

"Our non-conference games are set to offer similar competition as well as elevated competition," explained Scott. "This will directly prepare us for our WHAC competitors."

LTU face a strong schedule in 2015, including games at No. 2 ranked and 2014 national runner-up, University of Northwestern Ohio and at No. 18 ranked Siena Heights University (Mich.). The Blue Devils also face Davenport University (Mich.) in Grand Rapids, one of two trips LTU makes to the west side of Michigan. LTU hosts eight home games, including the home opener on August 25 against Indiana Wesleyan University at 4 p.m.

"Women's Soccer in the WHAC has been noted to be the third strongest conference in the nation," said Scott. "As a growing program, we need to have all moving parts headed in one direction so as to compete at our highest level. Our biggest challenges remain those powerhouse teams of the WHAC as well as taking the first step in making our name known."

The Blue Devils open the regular season on Wednesday, August 19 at Bethel College (Ind.). Live stats can be followed here.