|
|
Related Material
|
Weekly Soccer Notes.pdf
|
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Natasha Kai, a freshman from Kahuku, Hawaii, earned her third player of the week award this year, posting her second hat trick of the season. The freshman scored 10 points on the week, scoring three goals in a, 5-1, win over Boise State and a pair in a, 5-0, win against Nevada. In both matches, she had the game-winning goal. She now has set or tied eight school records, including the records for points in a season (31), goals (14) and game-winning goals (4).
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Kelly Wilson, a freshman from Highland Village, Texas, helped the Golden Hurricane defeat SMU, 2-1, giving the Mustangs their first conference loss since 1999. In the win over the Mustangs, Wilson picked up 17 saves, a school record, and one short of the conference single-match record. Despite losing to UTEP, she held the Miners to just two goals for only the third time this season.
OTHERS NOMINATED Offensive - Erin Sayegusa of Fresno State scored one of three goals in a 3-2 win over San Jose State and scored the game winner against No. 24 CS Fullerton ... Kim Harvey of SMU had 11 shots on goal, scoring three times for six points in three matches ... Kate Stevens of UTEP had one goal in two conference matches ... Jamie German of Tulsa had two goals and one assist as the Hurricane defeated SMU, 2-1, but fell to UTEP, 2-1 ... Defensive - Jennifer Churchill of Hawaii had a shutout in a ,5-0, win over Nevada ... Kyla Clark of UTEP went 2-0 with a .50 goals against average, gathering 13 saves on the weekend.
WEEK FIVE IN THE WAC The final week of WAC soccer is here, with final tournament spots still up for grabs. Tulsa (6-7-2, 3-2-1) steps out of conference to face city rival Oral Roberts (Oct. 29). The Hurricane will head west for the weekend, taking on Nevada and Boise State. Rice (1-12-2, 1-5) faces both Nevada (4-13, 1-5) and Boise State (5-9-1, 1-5), needing to win both to get into the tournament. Hawaii (8-7-2, 4-2) whose latest offensive burst has landed them in the nations top 25 in scoring heads to California to face San Jose State (3-12-3, 1-4-2), who needs to win this match to stay alive, and Fresno State (7-11, 5-2) who has won six of its last eight matches. The Spartans will face Sacramento State, to end the regular season. WAC leading UTEP (15-1, 6-1) takes on SMU (9-5-4, 5-1-1) in Dallas for the WAC regular championship.
WAC NCAA LEADERS UTEP is in the top three in the NCAA in three categories. The Miners lead the nation, averaging 4.75 goals per match, scoring 76 goals on the season. Their 0.938 winning percentage is tops in the country. Hawaii moved into 23rd in the nation with its 2.67 goals per match. With a .80 GAA, UTEP is ranked 30th in the country.
UTEPs Holly Cohen is third in the nation in points per match (3.00), while fellow Miners Miranda Cuthberson (2.56) and Kelly Parker (2.44) are ninth and 10th, respectively. Hawaiis Natasha Kai is 15th with 2.21 per contest. Cohen is also sixth in goals per match (1.27) while Cuthberson is tied for ninth (1.06) and Kai is 13th (1.00). Parker is second in the nation in assists per contest with 1.06. Nevadas Megan Tarpenning is 17th in the country in saves per match with 7.24, while UTEPs Kyla Clark is 28th with a 0.77 GAA.
TOURNAMENT RACE - With the final week of WAC play left before the 2002 WAC Tournament in Houston, there is one spot still up for grabs. UTEP, SMU, Fresno State, Hawaii and Tulsa have all clinched berths to the tournament.
There are a few key matchups this weekend. San Jose State needs a win against Hawaii and each Boise State, Nevada and Rice to go 1-1 or worse on the weekend, and the Spartans are in. In the event that San Jose State loses, there are a number of situations that can oocur. Should that happen, it will come down to winning percentage and tie breakers. The following is a list of who holdst the tie breakers within the four.
Teams Tie Break winner
San Jose State/Boise State San Jose State
San Jose State/Nevada Nevada
San Jose State/Rice Rice
Boise State/Nevada Boise State
Boise State/Rice Nov. 1
Nevada/Rice Nov. 3
REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP UTEP (6-1) faces off with SMU (5-1-1) in Dallas for the regular-season conference championship. SMU, who was undefeated last season in the WAC, will look to win its third-straght regular season title. UTEP won the 1998 WACs Mountain Division.
IN THE NET
BOISE STATE - In the Broncos only match of the weekend, they fell to the Wahine, 5-1 ... with matches in late October, the times for the Rice and Tulsa match have been pushed forward one hour to allow for more light.
FRESNO STATE - The Bulldogs hot as off late, winning six of their last eight, including a win over WAC leader UTEP ... they continued to own the toughest schdeule in the WAC as they face No. 24 CS Fullerton, picking up a, 2-1, win.
HAWAII - The Rainbow Wahine offense has been on a tear, moving into 23rd in the nation in scoring ... still with two matches remaining, the 2002 squad is the most prolific offensive squad in school history ... they have new school records for points (135), goals (44), assists (47) and shots (349) .. junior Arlene DeVitt now has 16 career assists, landing her first all-time ... freshman Natasha Kai needs just one goal to tie the record for most goals in conference play with 8 (Kim Harvey, SMU).
NEVADA - The Wolf Pack are still in WAC tournament contention, as they need atleast a win against Rice to remain alive ... goalkeeper Megan Tarpenning continues to rank in the top 20 in the nation in saves per match.
RICE - The Owls are still in WAC tournament contention, as they need a pair of wins this weekend against Boise State and Nevada to remain alive.
SAN JOSE STATE - The Spartans has only one WAC match this weekend as they face Hawaii, but may need the win to remain the six seed in the WAC Tournament.
SMU - The Mustangs lost their first WAC match since 1999, falling to Tulsa, 2-1 ... SMU also added to its record setting overtime matches, as they played in their eighth extra-period match of the season ... the WAC regular season title is on the line this weekend, as the Mustangs face top ranked UTEP in Dallas.
UTEP - The Miners are looking for their first sole possession of the WAC title ... UTEP won the WACs Mountain Division in 1998 ... UTEP finished 9-0 at home this season, a new school record ... their previous best was 7-2 home record (98) ... the WAC regular season title is on the line this weekend, as the Miners face SMU in Dallas.
TULSA - Tulsa is heads west to face Boise State and Nevada, looking to improve its seed for the WAC Tournament ... Jamie German has six assists this season, just three shy of the schools record, with three matches remaining ...
2002 WAC TEAM RECORD SETTERS There have been many single-season and conference-season records broken already in 2002. With the offensive power UTEP showed in non-conference play, they are close to or have broken many records. As a team, UTEP has 30 assists in conference play, a new WAC conference-season record. Hawaii had 20 in 2001. The Miners 69 assists are three short of the record held by BYU in 1996. UTEP has also earned 84 points in WAC play, passing SMUs 2001 mark of 70, a new WAC-season record. The Miners have 221 points all season, 30 shy of the season mark set by BYU in 96. UTEP has also allowed only 13 goals all season, should this trend continue, they are on track to break the old mark of 18 held by Hawaii (99), San Diego State (98) and SMU (97).
2002 WAC INDIVIDUAL RECORD SETTERS UTEPs Kelly Parker has entered her name in many single-season categories already this season. Parker is the new season-assists leader for the WAC with 17 in 2002, passing BYUs Jennifer Love who had 12 in 1996. In WAC play, Miranda Cuthberson has six assists to her name, a new WAC-play record. Five others have had five during conference play. Cuthberson and Kaleita Roberts both assisted on four goals in a 10-1 win over Boise State (10/6), tying them with former Miner Jennifer Biondi, who posted four against Troy State in 1997, for most all-time in a single match. The mark is best in a conference match. Cuthberson also has 20 points in WAC play, tying Kim Harvey of SMU, who had 20 in 2001. Hawaii freshman striker Natasha Kai, had 14 shots in the Wahine win over Long Island (9/19). The 14 shots are a new WAC single-match record. The record was formerly held by Stacie Savage of San Jose State, when she had 12 against Wyoming in 1997. Kai currently has eight goals in WAC play, one short of the conference season record. Nevadas Megan Tarpenning has 123 saves on the season, she is closing in on the season mark of 137 held by Amanda Smith (1998) of UTEP. UTEPs Kyla Clark has allowed only seven goals in 11 matches this season. The record is held by Becca Leif, who allowed only nine in all of 1998. SMUs Erin McLeod and Clark have five WAC wins, one shy of McLeods record six acquired last season.
END OF THE DOMINANCE SMU was handed its first WAC loss since falling, 1-0, to San Jose State in 1999, when the Mustangs were defeated by Tulsa, 2-1 (Oct. 25). The defending regular season champions finished the 2001 conference season undefeated. After going 6-0-1 in the 2000 season, the Mustangs managed an 8-0 record last season. They had not lost a regular season conference match since 1999. The Mustangs were 8-0-2 over the last two seasons. Their last defeat was a 1-0 loss to San Jose State on October 17, 1999. Before the loss, the Mustangs had not fallen in 20-straight conference matches.
2002 HAT TRICKS WAC competitors have turned in 12 total three-goal hat tricks this season. There was one all of last season (Arlene Devitt, UH). UTEP, and its high-scoring offense have six on the season; two by Holly Cohen and Miranda Cuthberson and one each from Kelly Parker and Kate Stevens. Tulsa freshman Danielle Fauteux has three, while Hawaiis Natasha Kai has two and SMUs Kim Harvey have both notched one.
UTEP IN CENTRAL REGION TOP 10 UTEP, who is off to an 15-1 start, is 8th in SoccerBuzz Magazines Central Region Top 10. Texas heads the list, just ahead of Texas A&M.
PIBULVECH CLOSES IN ON 200 Nevada head coach Dang Pibulvech needs just six wins to reach the 200 win plateau. Pibulvech is currently 194-138-22 (.581) in his 19 years of coaching.
VAN LINDER EARNS 50TH WIN SMU head coach George Van Linder earned his 50th SMU win, in a 4-2 victory of Baylor (9/20). Van Linder posts a .699 winning percentage at SMU (55-20-6). He is currently 89-47-9 overall in his seven-year Divison I career.
RECORD SETTING OVERTIMES SMUs 1-1 tie with North Texas (10/23), was the eighth, extra-period match this season. SMU had a 2-2 draw with San Jose State (10/13). Along with North Texas and the Spartan match, SMU tied with TCU (10/2) in its sixth extra-period match of the season. The Mustangs are currently 2-2-3 in those affairs. SMU tied with Loyola Maryount on Sept. 27, 0-0. Along with the three draws, the Mustangs fell to Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, in double-overtime. The Lady Mustangs defeated Colorado College 3-2 in double OT, as well as knocking off Arizona State in one extra period, 2-1. SMU had five overtimes in a season three times before (1996, 99 and 00).
UTEP RECORD BREAKERS Senior Holly Cohen is adding to UTEPs single-season records for goals (19) and points (45). Fellow senior Kelly Parker has also set a single-season mark for a Miner, assisting on 17 goals. Along with her assists, she has 11 goals on the season for 39 points. She is also the new career leader in assists with 27. Miranda Cuthberson has 41 points on the season. The three are now the top three single-season points leaders in UTEP history.
WAC ON THE WEB Western Athletic Conference soccer can also be found on the web at www.wacsports.com. Here you can find updated stats, standing and schedules for your favorite WAC team.
FACING THE NATIONS BEST Nine teams that participated in the 2001 NCAA Tournament are opponents of WAC teams this season. National champion Santa Clara, UCLA, Denver, California, CS Fullerton, Texas A&M, Texas, Pepperdine and Kansas were all WAC opponents in 2002.
WAC TOURNAMENT CREDENTIAL DEADLINE Request forms for credentials to the 2002 WAC Soccer Tournament in Houston, are now available through the league office. Media requesting hotel rooms must have their credential forms in by Thursday, October 23. If no room is requested, the deadline is Wednesday, October 30. The tournament is going to be held, November 7-9 at the Rice Soccer Stadium. The form is available in the back of this release.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON Houston, Texas and Rice University will play host to the 2002 WAC Tournament. The championship will be played at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium, November 7-9. Six of the WACs nine participating schools make the tournament. The format will place the No. 3 seed against the No. 6 in the opening round, while seeds, 4 and 5 will square off. The 4/5 winner will face the No. 2 seed. The 2001 Championship was held at SMU, and the Mustangs took home the crown.
WOMENS COLLEGE CUP IN AUSTIN The 2002 edition of the NCAA Womens Soccer Championship will be held at Mike A. Meyers Stadium and Soccer Field on the campus of the University of Texas, December 6 and 8. The field of 64 will begin play hosts sites, November 15.