THOMASVILLE, Ga. – Three of the most competitive opponents that the Thomas University women's soccer team will face this season have shown up at the top of the Lady Night Hawks 2015 schedule, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.   In fact, facing a trio of quality opponents early in the season should speed up the maturation process of head coach Julie Orlowski's team, which features a combined 19 freshmen and sophomores, while also preparing the group for matches with increased significance down the road. 
 
The challenging schedule has seen the Lady Night Hawks face two of the Top 10 teams in the NAIA Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' poll, not including a third opponent in Auburn-Montgomery who was also receiving Top 25 votes.  Those tests, though, could put the TU women on the fast track for success when Sun Conference play starts on Sept. 25.
 
The grueling start has already started to pay dividends, however, as the Lady Night Hawks are coming off of a thrilling, 3-2 upset win over Auburn-Montgomery on Thursday afternoon, a result that will undoubtedly boost the team's confidence level heading into Sunday's home opener against the Brenau Golden Tigers.
 
After finishing 17th in the country in 2013, the Golden Tigers regressed some last season, but not as much as the team's 8-8-2 record might suggest.  Brenau dropped four matches to ranked foes in 2014, each by one goal, indicating that the team possessed a level of competitiveness that didn't necessarily translate to the win column.  The Golden Tigers graduated an All-American and three other All-Conference performers from a season ago, and coach Mike Lochstampfor's squad will likely still be searching for consistent production to replace those players on Sunday against the Lady Night Hawks.  The key returning starter for Brenau is Shelly Restificar, a Southern States All-Freshman defender who started all 18 matches for her team a season ago.
 
Despite the level of difficulty of the first three matches, the Lady Night Hawks have flashed signs of significant talent.  The team fought toe-to-toe with tenth-ranked Mobile in the season opener, staying level with the Lady Rams for nearly 60 minutes before ultimately falling 2-0.  The TU women followed up that solid effort with an even better performance two matches later, racing out to a 3-0 lead over Auburn-Montgomery on the road and holding on in the final minutes to capture the victory.
 
The run of difficult matches will not let up Sunday, however, as another squad capable of being nationally-ranked rolls into town.  Seniors Mackenzie Dolan, Adrianna Johnson, Alyssa Denton, and Sara-Ann Hartley, the Lady Night Hawks' goalkeeper who recorded nine saves in the first match, will look to continue to guide their young team through a treacherous August schedule with hopes of continually improving before conference play begins.  First touch versus Brenau is set for 1:00.
 
For up-to-date information on the upcoming matchup and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU women's soccer team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksWSocc.