Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State junior Sofia Lewis (left) winds up a shot before scoring a goal Monday evening in the Red and Green scrimmage at Herb Parker Stadium.

For the first time in the program’s nine-year history, the Minot State women’s soccer team has a new coach calling the shots.

Chris Clements embarks on his first season at the helm after taking over for long-time head coach Jason Spain, who accepted a Division I offer in January to coach the University of Wisconsin Green Bay women’s soccer team.

“I think they have done great,” Clements said about the coaching change. “We had a good spring and, obviously, the incoming players don’t know any different. So, sometimes it’s not bad when you bring in 13 incoming players.”

MSU certainly has a new-look roster for Clements to mold.

The Beavers only bring back two prominent starters from a season ago: senior goalkeeper Erin Rafferty and junior forward Sofia Lewis.

Rafferty ranks first in school history in career wins (36), saves (197) and shutouts (17). She was named the NSIC Goalkeeper of the Year as a redshirt freshman in 2016.

Lewis, a Minot High product, dribbled circles around the NSIC as an underclassman. In her first two seasons, Lewis has accumulated 28 goals and 69 points — both marks are the second-most in school history behind Ninfa “Ninja” Ramirez, who finished her two-year collegiate career with 34 goals and 83 points.

Tho other players on the roster who have played important minutes in the past include junior midfielder Melanie van Walstijn and senior forward Daniela Fonseca.

Fonseca and Lewis scored the two goals in the Beavers’ annual preseason intrasquad scrimmage that was held on Monday.

“We are stepping into uncharted territory that we haven’t really dealt with before,” Fonseca said. “I think it will be a good challenge for us.”

Six former MSU players followed Spain to Wisconsin, and are on the Green Bay roster for this upcoming season: Jordyn Cook, Audrey Wilson, Morgan Myers, Ashley Hunter, Emily Woods and his daughter Mia Spain.

The first four got prominent playing time last season, which forced Clements to bring in a bunch of late additions to the team.

Those 13 signings were announced at the start of the month.

The new cast comes from three different states (California, Colorado and Wisconsin) and four other countries (England, Italy, Ireland and Germany).

“We will kind of see who all pans outs as we move forward,” Clements said.

Clements comes to Minot State after a five-year stint with Hastings College (Nebraska) where the Broncos recorded five straight NAIA national tournament appearances and an 81-17-10 overall record.

MSU assistant coach Gerardo Hidalgo helped ease the transition.

“I think (the coaching change) has gone relatively smoothly because we had coach Gerardo right off the bat in the spring when Jason (Spain) left,” Lewis said. “Gerardo’s coaching style is really similar to Chris. So, it was pretty smooth going from Jason to Gerardo to Chris.”

Despite all the new faces that came with the coaching change, there is still a little bit of Jason Spain’s DNA left in these Beavers.

When the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference released its Preseason Coaches’ Poll last week, the Beavers — in typical Spain fashion — weren’t exactly pleased with the ranking they received.

Ninth, out of 16 teams.

This comes after making the NCAA Tournament three times in the last four years. But, none of that matters now.

“Being a new team, it makes sense for people to rank us lower,” Fonseca said. “But, I’m all for it. I really want to surprise people. It will be exciting. I think that’s the best thing they could have given us because they gave us a new fire. Probably not their best idea, but we are ready and excited to prove them wrong.”

The Beavers will get their first major opportunity to prove the doubters wrong on Sept. 13 in their home opener against No. 12 nationally-ranked Ferris State (Michigan).

Before that, Minot State opens the season in Colorado this weekend against Metro State on Friday and University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on Sunday. They also have an away game scheduled against University of North Dakota (Division I) on Sept. 10.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.