OMAHA, Neb. — After a promising start in coach Jamison Parkhill's first soccer season, the College of Saint Mary enters 2025 with even higher aspirations.

The Flames open their regular season on Thursday at noon in La Crosse, Wis., when they meet Viterbo University in a nonconference match.

"We have high expectations and know what we can achieve, but we have to get the results and not just talk about it,'' Parkhill said.

CSM turned in a solid season in Parkhill's first season at the helm, going 6-9-4 overall and 5-4-2 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference to secure the No. 7 seed in the GPAC Postseason Tournament, where it was eliminated by Concordia.

It marked the second straight year that the Flames reached the GPAC Tournament, after missing out for four consecutive seasons. Parkhill's club also closed the regular season with a 2-2 tie with Hastings, which was the GPAC regular-season and tournament champion, along with a national qualifier.

This season, hopes are even higher. CSM has been picked fifth in the 12-team GPAC by the league's coaches in their annual preseason poll.

"We will be in the thick of it again,'' Parkhill said. "We want to get into the top four in the conference in order to host a playoff game, and look to make it to a semifinal at minimum.

"The GPAC will be very good this year. We know we must improve our road record and get results against the teams we should. We want to be peaking in October and hit the last month in stride.''

Some of the top returnees include senior midfielder Jimena Estrada Gomez (Omaha South) along with sophomore forward Ella Klusman (Council Bluffs St. Albert) and sophomore defenders Abby Ostergaard (Omaha Skutt Catholic) and Bella Olsen (Omaha Marian).

Klusman, shared the team lead with seven goals last season and was second with five assists, while Olsen added five goals. Ostergaard started all 19 matches in her debut season, while Estrada Gomez produced four goals and three assists two years ago to earn honorable mention all-GPAC honors.

"Our front line is our strength this year,'' Parkhill said. "We return a lot of our attacking power, and we will look to get ourselves in the best position to make them shine throughout the year.''

Among the Flames' losses are second-team All-GPAC selection Abbie Anderson in the midfield along with defender Aubrey Vancura, who earned honorable mention honors.

At keeper, the competition is ongoing among two juniors and a freshman. The same could be said at about every position.

"We are very competitive in every spot,'' Parkhill said. "We have depth in all positions, which is a good thing because we ask them to make the decisions hard on us. We have some very hard decisions on who is the starting XI and who is coming off the bench. We are about the mindset that we have starters and we have finishers. Everyone's role is important.''

Viterbo is coming off an 8-9-1 season, including 5-5-1 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, which was tied for eighth in the 12-team league. The V-Hawks' top returnee is two-time all-league defender Hadley Dammer.

"We challenged ourselves in nonconference play to set us up for a run through the GPAC,'' Parkhill said. "In the end, time will tell if all the hard work paid off.''