Box Score ARCATA – The Humboldt State women's soccer team kicked off its season with a 1-0 victory over the visiting Western Oregon Wolves Thursday at the College Creek Field. The result marks the first win on the new field for the Lumberjacks.

Humboldt State starts the season with a 1-0 record going into its first California Collegiate Athletics Association conference game on Sept. 9 when the Jacks face Cal State Stanislaus on the road. Western Oregon starts its season with an 0-1 overall record.

"I think we'd all agree it was great to get the first game out of the way, especially with a win," said head coach C.J. Johnson. "It puts us in a positive position to evaluate what we need to work on. Overall, I'm very pleased with our performance and the result."

The Jacks started the game putting pressure on the Wolves, getting a shot off in the fifth minute from senior Karen Pontoni. Junior Carly Kolpin put Humboldt State on the board with what would be the game-winner in the 27th minute off a slotted cross to the far post from junior Bre Taylor.

"The goal was a great goal and afterward I noticed more and more we were able to combine better—which is something I want," said Johnson. "It's good to see people getting involved in the play and numbers attacking forward."

Western Oregon broke through with a chance at goal off a shot from Marina Austin in the 34th minute, but junior goalkeeper Jennie Paugh had no problem holding onto it to keep it out of the net.

The Humboldt State defense committed a few mistakes that Johnson knows they need to sort out heading into CCAA games, but overall Paugh wasn't really tested in the net for the Jacks.

"We had a few defensive breakdowns we were able to survive," said Johnson. "Our toughness came into play, though, for us to recover from them."

Fouls were nearly even, with Humboldt State committing eight to WOU's nine. The only yellow card of the game was issued to Austin from Western Oregon in the 74th minute.

The Wolves' best chance to score came in the 87th minute off a shot from LaChante Horton, but once again Paugh was able to make a diving save to maintain her first shutout of the season.

Sophomore Katrina Casarez almost gave Humboldt State an insurance goal in the last minute of the game, but found the post instead.

"Even though it was only a 1-0 victory, I'm still very happy with it because of how many new faces we have," said Johnson. "We had a lot of players playing their first game in college and I thought they did a good job."

Johnson and his team look to build off the momentum they captured in their first win of the season as they head into the tough competition the CCAA brings, since the Jacks will face teams who have been in the national tournament.

"Any game is an important game heading into conference, but we know the games are just going to get tougher," said Johnson. "It's important for us to evaluate and learn from this game so tougher opponents won't be able to capitalize on our mistakes."