SMU, the Western Athletic Conference regular-season champion, dominated the selections of the conference women's soccer postseason honors. Senior forward Tara Comfort was named the Player of the Year, while midfielder Jill Heinemann was selected as the Freshman of the Year. Chris Huston, first-year head coach at Rice, was voted the Coach of the Year.
The league's head coaches select the all-WAC teams and player, freshman and coach of the year honorees by a vote. The all-WAC teams consist of three forwards, three midfielders, three defenders, one goalkeeper and one at-large selection. Because of ties in the voting, this year's all-WAC teams each include 12 players instead of 11. Players from all nine schools were represented on the all-WAC teams.
SMU, which went undefeated in conference action, placed six players on the all-WAC first team and two on the second team. WAC newcomer Boise State tied for second in the league standings and placed two players on the first team and two players on the second team. Two Hawai`i players earned first-team honors, while San Jose State and Tulsa each had a first-team all-WAC selection. Second-team all-WAC members included three Rice players, two each from Fresno State and UTEP, and one player from Nevada.
Comfort helped SMU to an 8-0 conference record and an overall mark of 13-3. The Carrollton, Texas (Newman Smith), native scored seven goals and five assists to tally 19 points during the regular season. Comfort was a first-team all-WAC selection in 1998 and 1999.
Heinemann, a native of Plano, Texas (Plano West), ranks in the top-10 in the WAC in both goals per game (0.44) and points (1.00) per game. Heinemann headlines a strong freshman class that placed five players on the all-WAC teams. This marks the third year in a row that a Mustang has won the Freshman of the Year award.
Huston led Rice to a second-place tie in the WAC in the Owls' inaugural season of Division I soccer. Despite posting a 7-8-0 overall record, the Owls won their final two WAC games to finish 5-3 in the conference standings. Rice, a team with 14 freshmen on the 18-person roster, led the WAC in assists per game (1.80) and ranked second in goals allowed with 27 over 15 games.
The first round of the WAC Championship tournament begins today with Boise State and Hawai`i kicking off at 5 p.m., followed by Tulsa and Fresno State at 7:30 p.m. The winners advance to the semifinals and will meet either Rice or SMU, respectively, on Thursday, Nov. 8. The championship match will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10. The tournament is hosted by SMU and all games are being held at Westcott Field in Dallas, Texas.
The complete list of the all-WAC teams follows:
First-Team All-WAC
F Tara Comfort, Sr., SMU
F Arlene Devitt, So., Hawai`i
F Kim Harvey, So., SMU
MF Christina Collins, Sr., SMU
MF Jill Heinemann, Fr., SMU
MF Kristina Jacob, Jr., San Jose State
D Carmel Hurley, Sr., Hawai`i
D Diana Kelm, Jr., SMU
D Brooke Smith, Sr., Boise State
D Beth Taruscio, Sr., Tulsa
GK Erin McLeod, Fr., SMU
GK Jeanne Orm, Sr., Boise State
Second-Team All-WAC
F Holly Cohen, Jr., UTEP
F Reyna Green, Sr., Fresno State
F Sarah Harvey, Sr., SMU
F Kaziah Hill, So., Boise State
MF Leisha Makinano, So., Nevada
MF Abbe Roche, So., Boise State
MF Aimee Thompson, Sr., Fresno State
MF Sarah Yoder, Fr., Rice
D Caitlin Currie, Fr., Rice
D Laura Glasspoole, Sr., UTEP
D Amanda Jordan, Fr., SMU
GK Amanda Garrison, Fr., Rice
Freshman of the Year: Jill Heinemann, MF, SMU
Player of the Year: Tara Comfort, Sr., F, SMU
Coach of the Year: Chris Huston, Rice