Player of the Week
Hawaii forward Arlene Devitt was named this weeks Western Athletic Conference Womens Soccer Player of the Week. It is her second Player of the Week award this season.
Devitt, a sophomore from Kapaa, Hawai`i, set a new school record for points (6) in a match when she tallied two goals and two assists in a 5-1 rout of conference foe UTEP. The two goals tie the school record shared by several players while Devitts pair of assists also ties the Wahine single-game record. For the season, Devitt leads Hawaii in points (17), goals (7), shots (39) and game-winners (2). She is also tied for second on the team in assists with three.
Others Nominated
Kaziah Hill, a sophomore forward for Boise State, tied the school record for assists in a season with five when she dished the ball to teammate Tara Mulligan for the gamewinner against Fresno State last week. Hill also tallied a goal against Eastern Washington to give the Broncos 27 goals for the season, tying a school record. Fresno State sophomore Erin Sayegusa scored two goals in the Bulldogs double overtime win over Nevada, 3-2, last Thursday. Sayegusa, a forward, leads the team in points with six. Rices Sarah Yoder, a freshman midfielder, notched a goal and two assists in last weeks 2-1 loss to Tulsa and 2-1 win over Oral Roberts. She has two goals and seven assists for the season. Kim McNally, a freshman forward for Tulsa, scored a goal in each of the Hurricanes two games last week. She has scored three goals in the past four games and is second on the team in goals with four.
WAC Play
SMU continues to dominate the field in WAC action. The Mustangs posted a 3-1 win over Hawai`i last Sunday to improve to 5-0 in conference play with three matches remaining. San Jose State moved into second place this week with a 4-3 overtime win over Nevada. Boise State, Tulsa, Fresno State, Hawai`i and Rice are all tied for third with records of .500. UTEP fell to 1-3-1 with a 5-1 loss to Hawai`i, while Nevada remains winless in both conference action and overall.
Eight WAC matches are scheduled for this week. On Thursday, Fresno State travels to San Jose State for a 7:30 match. Then on Friday, Oct. 26, Hawai`i plays at Boise State, Tulsa plays at SMU and UTEP heads to Rice. To round out the weekend, San Jose State plays at Boise State, Hawai`i remains on the road to take on Nevada, Rice travels to SMU and Tulsa heads to UTEP, all on Sunday afternoon.
Hanging It Up
Fresno State retired the jersey of former Bulldog standout Christina Bell last Sunday during halftime of the Nevada game. Bell is the first player to be so honored since the soccer programs inception in 1995. A 1996 transfer, Bell played two seasons as a midfielder and forward, wearing jersey number 13. She finished second all-time in Fresno States record book in points (29), goals (12) and assists (5). She was twice named first-team all-WAC and in 1997 received the WACs Stan Bates award, honoring the conferences top male and female scholar-athlete. This year, Bell played for the Bay Area CyberRays in the WUSAs inaugural season, helping the team to an 11-6-4 record and the WUSA Championship.
Stat Leaders
Boise State sophomore Kaziah Hill and SMU senior Sarah Harvey lead the WAC in points with 19 apiece and a 1.46 per game average. Arlene Devitt of Hawai`i leads the league in points per game with an average of 1.55. Harveys seven assists also lead the conference along with Rice freshman Sarah Yoder. In the goals category, three players have eight goals for the year, including SMU sophomore Kim Harvey, UTEP junior Holly Cohen and Tulsa senior Melissa McCormick. Defensively, Tulsa keeper Abby Fahrig has posted four shutouts and a 1.37 goals against average for the year. Rices Amanda Garrison has a 6.82 saves per game average to lead the conference.
Senior Days
Fresno State played its last home game of the season last Sunday while four more WAC teams will complete their home schedules this week. San Jose State will honor its seniors on October 25 while Boise State and SMU will honor their seniors on October 28. Nevadas last home game is also on the 28th but the Wolf Pack is a senior-less squad. Bulldog seniors include Reyna Green, Kristi Nicholls, Jessica Peisch and Aimee Thompson. The four Spartan seniors are Kristina Jacob, Alana Rainville, Ryanne Banks and Annemarie Hennes. Boise States first senior class includes Jeanne Orm, Dayle McNabb, Brooke Smith, and Jamie Nicholsen. SMUs seniors are Christina Collins, Amanda Forgason, Lorrie Tipton, Sarah Harvey and Stephanie Sutter.
Tulsa Players Climb Ranks of School Records
Seniors Melissa McCormick and Beth Taruscio continued their move up Tulsas career assist chart last week. McCormick climbed into fifth place with 15 career assists, while Taruscio moved into ninth place with 12. Both players earned an assist in the Hurricanes 2-1 win over Rice. Freshman goalkeeper Abby Fahrig is one save shy of tying former netminder Amanda Wallace (1999) for sixth place among Tulsas all-time save leaders. Fahrig has tallied 86 saves this season which puts her in fifth place for single-season saves and just one short of fourth place.