NAMPA, Idaho – When Mary Trigg was first hired as the women's soccer head coach at Northwest Nazarene in 2013 she had no connections to Idaho soccer.

To fix that, the California native became a club coach at Boise Nationals to help her get to know the local scene.

She couldn't have predicted that four of the five seniors on this year's squad would come out of that club.

Brooke Felzien, Tennyson Young and Christa Lewis all played for Trigg, while Corrinah Schaefer was on a rival team.

"I knew they were going to be good character people," Trigg said when she recruited the group to NNU, "but I didn't know how much they were going to be leaders and program changers. They just bought in and it shows when you are all in."

Felzien, Young and Schaefer all came to NNU as freshmen, while Lewis attended Western State Colorado for two years before transferring to the Nighthawks.

The familiarity the group had with each other and with Trigg helped ease the transition into college athletics.

"I think since we started building our chemistry together so long ago, that transferred into college," Young said. "Learning how someone plays is one of the harder things when you come to a new team – what kind of balls you play and your relationship with them inside and outside of soccer. So, all of that came a little bit more easily."

Felzien, Young and Lewis all went to different high schools, but played for the same club team. When Trigg arrived, they noticed a change immediately.

"At first, I was really intimidated by her because I had never had a woman coach," Felzien said. "She was super intense and you could tell she was more committed, but it ended up being great because it got me ready for the higher level of play here.

"I liked the intensity and the structure she brought."

While Felzien, Young and Schaefer took direct paths to NNU, Lewis had a bit more of a winding journey.

Lewis was recruited by Trigg out of high school, but wanted to go out of state. A few weeks before she was set to start her freshman year, the Western State Colorado coach quit to pursue a job in Iowa.

Suddenly, Lewis was thrust into a strange spot. She lasted two seasons before deciding she wanted to transfer. After gaining her release from her scholarship, she contacted Trigg who helped bring her to Nampa.

"It was easier because it was home," said Lewis, who is from Mountain Home, Idaho. "I had a coach that I had known and Brooke and TY (Young) were here and I kind of knew Co (Schaefer). When we started playing, I was a lot more comfortable."

In their careers, the seniors have been a part of the two best teams in program history and are hoping to take another step forward this season.

"We have so much more depth and that is huge," Felzien said. "Mary has talked about how other teams are able to sub lots of players and not drop the level and we haven't really had that. This year we do and that is super encouraging."

And a big part of that support comes from the core group of seniors who were trained up by Trigg for seven years.