DENVER – On a team filled with veteran leaders, MSU Denver women's soccer players and coaches have selected Jaimy Sawaged, Riley Ostler and Elli Zimmer to serve as captains.
 
"I'm happy for those three, but I'm also really excited for the senior group as a whole to really take hold of this team," MSU Denver coach Kat Mertz said.
 
With Sawaged a forward, Ostler a midfielder and Zimmer a defender, the Roadrunners would technically have a leader at every level of the field. But there are leaders of all kinds all over.
 
"It wasn't easy, because we have so many seniors," Mertz said. "At one point we talked about having no captains and letting them all step up and lead in their own ways, because every one of our upperclassmen has a voice on our team. It's nice to have a shared leadership where it's not coming from the top down – we talk a lot about horizontal leadership."
 
Most MSU Denver fans will get their first in-person glimpse at all the 2022 Roadrunners this weekend, as the team plays at the Assembly Athletic Complex for the first time this season.
 
MSU Denver plays host to St. Edward's (Texas) at 6 p.m. Friday and to Bridgeport (Conn.) at 11 a.m. Sunday.
 
"This is a good weekend for us, two opponents who have historically done well," Mertz said.
 
The Roadrunners opened the season in Canada last weekend, losing to host Simon Fraser (B.C.) 1-0 before defeating Saint Martin's (Wash.) in a neutral-site game by the identical score.
 
MSU Denver played without several of its top talents and expects to have a truer picture of its options this weekend.
 
"I'm excited to have the full strength of our team with our attacking threats," Mertz said. "To have those weapons, and the variety they bring – what makes our attacking group special is that we have players who can get in behind, and we have players who can combine and play underneath. Having all of them allows the coaching staff to figure out what the game is giving us and then play to the strengths of our players."
 
St. Edward's, picked to finish seventh in the Lone Star Conference, is 2-1 for the season after losing Wednesday to No. 8 UCCS (the score was 2-1), and one of the Hilltoppers' wins was over No. 14 Emporia State (Kan.). St. Edward's was 9-7-2 overall and 7-5-1 in the Lone Star last season – MSU Denver and St. Edward's played to a 0-0 tie in Austin, Texas, in an early nonconference matchup.
 
"The Lone Star Conference has a lot of quality teams," Mertz said. "So it's going to be a good test for us. It'll be nice to be on our home turf."
 
Bridgeport, which plays Friday at CSU-Pueblo, is picked to finish fifth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Purple Knights, who started the season 1-1, reached the NCAA Tournament last season while going 11-7-1 overall and 5-3-1 in league play.
 
"Historically they've done a good job," Mertz said. "They get into the NCAA Tournament and have competed for national championships."
 
Meanwhile, MSU Denver's trend of low-scoring, one-goal games appears to have carried over from last season. The Roadrunners allowed only 12 goals in 18 games in 2021, while going 10-6-2 overall and 7-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners played seven 1-0 games last year, winning three.
 
"At the end of the day, it's about goal-differential," Mertz said. "Our backs are good. We have a lot of senior leadership with Kate (Giordano), Katy (Harris) and Elli. They have a lot of experience, and then we have players who are giving us depth in those positions."