Player of the Week
Sophomore midfielder Kim Harvey led SMU to its first two conference victories of the season last week. The Garland, Texas, native netted two goals, including her second game-winning goal of the year, in her teams 3-2 win over Nevada. Harvey finished the week with four points and two goals off of seven shots.
Harvey has started nine of the 10 games she has played for the Mustangs this season while posting four goals and eight points off of 19 shots. Her four goals are tied for the team lead.
Others receiving nominations included Rice freshman goalkeeper Amanda Garrison, San Jose State junior goalkeeper Eryn Meyer, UTEP junior midfielder Holly Cohen, Tulsa freshman forward Kim McNally, Hawai`i junior goalkeeper Jennifer Churchill, and Fresno State junior defender Virginia Jenkins.
WAC Play
After the first week of WAC action, SMU leads the league with two wins. The Mustangs topped Boise State, 3-2, and Nevada, 3-2, on the road last week to establish a 2-0 conference record. UTEP defeated Boise State, 5-4, and tied Nevada, 1-1, to earn the No. 2 spot in the WAC with a 1-0-1 record. Tulsa, Fresno State, San Jose State and Rice finished the week with a 1-1 conference mark. Nevada ended up 0-1-1, while Boise State dropped both of its league games and is now 0-2 in the WAC. Hawai`i begins its conference schedule this week at Tulsa and Rice.
There are seven more WAC matches scheduled for this week. On Friday, Fresno State travels to SMU, Hawai`i is at Tulsa, and UTEP plays host to San Jose State. Conference action continues on Sunday with Boise State at Nevada, Fresno State facing off against UTEP, Hawai`i playing at Rice, and San Jose State at SMU.
The WAC Against Ranked Opponents
Only one WAC school faced a nationally ranked opponent last week. Hawai`i fell to No. 15 California, 4-0, on the road Monday, Oct. 1. This was the last top 25 team to play a WAC member for the season.
For the 2001 season, the WAC was 0-9 against nationally ranked squads. Fresno State ended up 0-2 against top 25 teams, losing 2-1 at Stanford and 2-0 at California. Hawai`i fell 4-1 to St. Marys and 4-0 to California. Nevada dropped a match 3-0 to St. Marys, while SMU was topped by Santa Clara, 5-2, and Stanford, 4-0. San Jose State lost home matches to Santa Clara (8-0) and St. Marys (5-0).
The WAC in the Polls
SMU is still the only WAC team to have made an appearance in the polls. The Mustangs fell out of the SoccerBuzz national top 25 two weeks ago after suffering two road losses, falling 2-5 to No. 7 Santa Clara and 0-4 to No. 4 Stanford. Despite improving to 7-3 overall after two conference victories last week, SMU has not made it back to the polls this week. The Mustangs also dropped two more spots in the regional rankings to No. 7.
SMU made its highest appearance in the polls on Sept. 10, earning the No. 16 spot in the top 25 and the No. 3 spot in the Central Region.