The Colorado State women’s soccer team will have plenty of new faces when their season kicks off on Aug. 22 against the University of Marquette. Three more players have signed on for next year, bringing the total to 11 new Rams that will don the green and gold for the first time.

All three players join the team as transfers, and all three will be eligible to play in the upcoming season.

“They all come to us with collegiate experience and in conferences which play at a high level. They will bring a different level of understanding to our team.”  -CSU Head Coach Bill Hempen

Addie Wright is a transfer from Wake Forest University, Gracie Armstrong is a transfer from Washington State and Kristen Noonan is a transfer from California State Fullerton.

Coach Bill Hempen and his revamped roster will try to build off last season. The Rams ended with a 6-9-4 record and a 3-6-2 in-conference record, which is their best finish since the program was launched in 2013.

Wright was on the 2016 Wake Forest roster but did not play, so she enrolled at CSU to pursue her degree. Wright played a year with the Rams club team, missed the game too much and decided to move up to the varsity program.

Armstrong, a local player from Legacy High School in Broomfield, Colorado, played in seven games while at Washington State, even scoring her first collegiate goal in the Cougar’s NCAA first-round game against Montana.

Noonan (formerly Kristen Swales) joins the Rams after earning all-freshman team honors in the Big West. Appearing in 16 games and starting in nine of them, she finished second on the team with five goals scored on 22 shots for a 22.7% shooting percentage.

All three transfers will look to make an impact with their new team as the players report on Aug. 5, with fall camp starting the following day.

The plethora of new players will have their work cut out for them as the Rams have a strong schedule with a number of challenging out-of-conference games during the 2019-2020 season. They have games against Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Valparaiso and a home-and-home series against Marquette.

“I’m going to have 11 new kids show up, and we’re going to be on the road a little bit,” Hempen said. “They’re going to be great challenges for us. I think they’re right in our wheelhouse as far as where we need to be competing. You go to Gonzaga, and they have a beautiful facility, and we’ve never been to Eastern Washington. Grand Canyon has a great facility to play in, and I’ve never been to Valpo or Marquette, so it’s something different.”

The Rams will also have a six game in-state stretch from Oct. 4, starting with a contest at Colorado College, followed by a game at the Air Force Academy on Oct. 6. CSU will then play at home in conference games against Fresno State (10/11), San Jose State (10/13), Utah State (10/18) and Boise State (10/20).

“Even though Colorado College and Air Force are road games, that’s six games in a row in state,” Hempen said. “That helps. There’s so many things that go into this, as far as keeping your kids focused, and it’s the time of the year where it’s midterms. That certainly helps the process. Those October games are going to be pretty important for us to be at home for that stressful time in the academic year.”

Ryan Loberger can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @LobergerRyan.