The long-awaited season opener is here for the UTB/TSC women's soccer team, and they face a stiff challenge in ninth-ranked William Carey University at 6 p.m. Saturday at REK Center Field in the Scorpion Soccer Classic.

UTB/TSC plays The University of Houston-Victoria at 6 p.m. Sunday at REK Center Field. 

The Scorpions, 11-5-2 a year ago, won the Red River Athletic Conference championship for the second time in three years. They lost in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round to Southern Nazarene University.

"We can't wait for season to start," Scorpion head coach Nik Barjaktarevic said. "We had a great preseason and have done a lot of things to really get the team together with a lot of new players."

William Carey had an outstanding 20-2-1 record a year ago, finishing the regular season as the third-ranked team in the country. The Crusaders advanced to the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Sweet 16 before they were eliminated.

In the NAIA preseason poll, they were ranked No. 9 in the nation.

"We will definitely have a real test with William Carey," Barjaktarevic said. "It will be a really tough match against them and we will see where we are at this point compared to other top 10 teams in the nation."

The Scorpions return all of their starters from the conference championship team, plus two senior transfers who played for UTB/TSC as freshmen -- Aliesha Cassie Vanessa Gallegos. Other new faces and talented freshmen should make the Scorpions exciting to watch.

"Expectations are very high," Barjaktarevic said. "Having a big group of returning players help a lot with setting the standard and gives us more time to focus on real work."

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