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Related Material
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Weekly Soccer Notes.pdf
Championship Bracket.pdf
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PLAYERS OF THE WEEKOffensiveBrennan Erickson, a freshman from Boise, Idaho, came off the bench to spark the Boise State offense, breaking a scoreless tie late in the half and scored the game winner in the 42nd minute of the Broncos 5-0 win over Nevada. She added the assist on Boise States second goal in the 46th minute. Erickson posted her second goal of the day in the 68th minute to give her five points on the day.
DefensiveAshley Watson, a freshman from Richardson, Texas, had one shot on goal in a 3-3 tie versus Kentucky. She is one of two freshmen who started each game for the Mustangs. She helps solidify the Mustang defense on a consistent basis.
OTHER NOMINEESOffensiveNatasha Kai, Hawaii and Kim Harvey, SMU.
DefensiveKim Parker, Boise State.
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK IN THE WAC - The 2003 WAC Championship field is set. Six of the nine WAC teams qualify for the tournament which is being hosted by SMU at Westcott Field in Dallas. SMU earned the tournaments top seed, going 7-1. Hawaii was also 7-1, but fell to SMU earlier in the season, giving the edge the Mustangs, and the Wahine the second seed. Both teams receive a bye to the semifinals. Competing in the first match of the tournament will be third-seeded Rice taking on sixth-seeded Fresno State. The match is slated for 5:00 p.m. (CT), Nov. 6. In the second match of the night at 7:30 p.m., fifth-seeded UTEP will square off with Boise State, who earned the fourth seed on the final day of the regular season. Boise State, Fresno State and UTEP all finished 4-4 in conference play, but the WAC tiebreaker gives the edge to Boise State, followed by UTEP. The semifinals are scheduled for 5:00 and 7:30 p.m., Nov. 7, with the championship match at 7:30 on Nov. 8.
WAC VS. THE TOP 25/NATION - The Western Athletic Conference is 0-11 against the NSCAA/adidas top 25 this season. Against the rest of the nations, the WAC is 37-48-8 (.441). As a conference, the teams have their best records against the Southland Conference, posting a 6-1-1 record and the Big Sky with a 5-4-1 record.
DALLAS SET TO HOST WAC CHAMPIONSHIP - The 2003 WAC Championship will be held at Westcott Field in Dallas, Texas. SMU has played host the tournament three previous times, with the Mustangs taking home the crown each time. The Mustangs hosted in 1997, 1999 and 2001.
WAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY - There have been eight conference tournaments dating back to 1995, the first in San Diego, Calif. SMU has three tournament titles, 1997, 99, 01, while San Diego State has two (1995, 98), BYU one (1996) and San Jose State in 2000. There have been five sites to host the conference championship. Along with San Diego State, Provo, Utah (BYU) have hosted twice, Dallas (SMU) three times, Fresno, Calif. (Fresno State) and Houston (Rice) once.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM - There are five returning members from the 2002 all-tournament team. SMU returns forward Kim Harvey and midfielder Jill Heinemann. Forward Kortney Lewis and midfielder Katri Nokso-Koivisto of Fresno State are back, along with defender Caitlin Currie of Rice.
HARVEY, KAI FINISH LEADING THE NATION IN OFFENSE - Hawaiis Natasha Kai and SMUs Kim Harvey are in the top four in each major category in the NCAA statistics. Kai, who broke the WAC record for goals in conference play with 14, has netted 29 in 2003 to lead the nation. Harvey has posted 23 this season, placing her third. In goals per game, Kai is listed second with 1.61 per contest, with Harvey fourth at 1.21. The duo is one, two in the nation in points with Kai registering 62 and Harvey, 57. They are only two of three student-athletes with more than 50. In points per game, Kai registers 3.44 (2nd), while Harvey posts 3.00 (3rd). Harvey is also 12th in the nation in assists per game at 0.58, while she is tied for seventh with 11 assists on the season. Nevadas Megan Tarpenning has come in 23rd in the recent NCAA stats, registering 6.78 saves per contest.
SAN JOSE STATE NAMES SIRACUSA HEAD COACH - Dave Siracusa has been named the San Jose State head soccer coach as announced by John Glass, senior associate athletics director. He will begin his duties as head womens soccer coach on Dec. 2. Siracusa comes to San Jose State after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach for the San Diego State mens soccer team. At SDSU, he was in charge of recruiting, fundraising, organizing camps and the program's community service activities. He is also the associate director of soccer operations for the Aztec Soccer Academy.
HARVEY SETS NEW CONFERENCE POINTS RECORD - Kim Harvey, a senior at SMU, set the single-season mark for points in the conference year. Harvey tallied 31 points to edge, Hawaiis Natasha Kai, who registered 30. Harvey had 13 goals in eight conference matches, but pushed herself over the top with five assists. The Garland, Texas native averaged 3.88 points per WAC match.
KAI SETS NEW CONFERENCE GOALS RECORD - Natasha Kai set the single-season mark for goals in the conference year. Kai tallied 14 goals to edge SMUs Kim Harvey, who registered 13. Kai had two hat tricks in conference play, including four goals against Nevada, Oct. 10. Kai smashed her record-setting 10 goals from last season.
CLARK SETS NEW CONFERENCE WINS RECORD - Amanda Clark, a native of Londonberry, Vt., posted a win in each of her first seven WAC matches this season, passing fellow Mustangs, Erin McLeod and Becca Leif, who both tallied six wins in 2001 and 2000, respectively. Clark picked up a, 2-0, win over Nevada, Oct. 24. Clark posted four shutouts in those record-setting wins.
KAI TIES WAC SINGLE-MATCH RECORDS - Hawaii sophomore forward Natasha Kai, posted five goals against Morehead State (9/14). She tied the mark set by Ashlee Richmond of TCU in 1996 against McNeese State. Kai also tallied one assist, giving her 11 points for the match. Kai also tied the conference single-game record with goals against Nevada (10/10). She registered four goals to tie UTEPs Miranda Cutherbertson and Kaletia Roberts, who each tallied four goals in the 2002 season.
HARVEY REACHING CAREER MARKS - Kim Harvey currently ranks in the top 10 in four of the WACs career offensive categories. The senior is second all-time in the WAC in both shots with 270, and goals at 62. She also has 146 points throughout her career, landing her second behind Shauna Rohbuck of BYU (216). Harvey has 11 assists on the season, moving her career total to 22, good for seventh.
RICE LOOKING FOR SINGLE-SEASON MARK - The Rice Owls are looking to allow the fewest goals in a season, since Hawaii allowed 18 in 1999. San Diego State in 1998 and SMU in 1997 own the WAC single-season record for goals allowed with 18. Rice has currently allowed 14 goals entering the WAC Tournament. Hawaii, who has posted seven conference shutouts, has allowed only 18 goals all season. The Owls goals against average for the season of 0.80 and the Wahines 0.93, are just shy of the 1998 San Diego State team who posted a GAA of 0.74.
TOPPING THE 250 MARK - SMU eclipsed the 250-win mark for the program since its inception in 1986 on Sept. 19 with a, 2-1, win over Colorado College.
KAI POSTS FOUR HAT TRICKS - Hawaii sophomore forward Natasha Kai, has posted four hat tricks in 2003. The 2003 WAC Preseason Player of the Year has two games with three goals, one with four and one with five. She tied the conference single-match mark with her five-goal effort against Morehead State, Sept. 14. She also tied the conference-match record with her four goals against Nevada.
AROUND THE WACBoise State closed the 2003 regular season with three consecutive home wins over UTEP, SMU and Nevada. The Broncos victory over Nevada on Nov. 2 claimed the fourth seed into this week's tournament for Boise State. The Broncos, who will be playing in their second league tournament in three years, enter the WAC Tournament with a balanced offensive attack. In the last three weeks, junior BreeAnn Milligan, and freshmen Kristin Hall and Brennan Erickson scored four goals apiece to join team leader senior Brittany Zoellner's nine over the course of the season. Zoellner increased her school record for career points to 72 last week with one assist against Nevada.
Fresno State suffered a 4-1 loss to Rice in the regular-season finale, but gets a chance at redemption when the two schools face off in the opening round of the 2003 WAC Tournament. That victory assured the Owls of the tournaments No. 3 seed, while the Bulldogs slipped to No. 6 after losing a three-team tiebreaker with Boise State and UTEP. Fresno State can finish the year with a record of .500 or better with at least two victories. The Bulldogs have qualified for the WAC Tournament each year since the inception of the program in 1995.
Hawaii won its final two conference matches of the season, giving the Wahine a 7-1 WAC record, the best in school history. The Rainbow Wahine became regular season co-champions, when SMU fell, to Boise State. Hawaii will be the tournaments second seed because of the conference tie-breaker rule. The Wahine fell to SMU, 4-3 earlier in the season. The 13 wins by Hawaii this season are the teams most in UH history. Sophomore Natasha Kai broke her 2002 mark of 10 conference goals, netting 14 this season. Hawaii finished the season at home against, BYU, netting a, 2-2, tie.
Nevada wrapped up the 2003 season, falling to Boise State, 5-0. The Wolf Pack finished the season with a 1-7 conference mark, 4-14 overall. Megan Tarpenning will again finish among the tops in the nation in saves per game, finishing with 6.71 per contest.
Rice junior goalkeeper Lauren Shockley has allowed only four scores in the Owls' last eight games. The native of Indianapolis, Ind., has been the starting keeper for all 17 games and owns a WAC-leading 0.76 goals-against average. That's the best single-season GAA by a WAC keeper in the last five years. She also has the leagues second-best career GAA (0.972) after meeting the WACs minimum number of minutes earlier this year. The Owls will face Fresno State in the WAC Championships first round, playing for the right to face Hawaii in the semifinals.
San Jose State concluded its season, falling at home to St. Marys, 2-1, in overtime. The Spartans named Dave Siracusa their new head womens soccer coach. Siracusa comes to San Jose State after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach for the San Diego State mens soccer team. At SDSU, he was in charge of recruiting, fundraising, organizing camps and the program's community service activities.
SMU clinched a share of its fourth consecutive WAC regular-season title with a 2-0 victory at Nevada, but Boise State snapped SMUs 10-game winning streak and spoiled SMUs chance for a perfect 8-0 conference record, with 2-1 victory over the Mustangs. SMU will serve as host for this weeks WAC Tournament. The Mustangs have served as host three previous times (1997, 1999, 2001) and has won the tournament title in each of those years. The Mustangs are looking to claim their third consecutive championship and third automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. SMUs 3-3 tie with Kentucky was only the second extra-period contest for the Mustangs this season (and first tie).
UTEP has now clinched back-to-back 10-plus win seasons for the first time since the programs inception in 1996. The Miners are now 10-7-0 and finished the 2002 season 16-3-0. The Miners will also be advancing to the WAC Tournament for a second-consecutive year for the first time in program history. They have made WAC Tournament appearances in 1998, 2000 and 2002. UTEP has played in 10 games which have been decided by one goal this season. Of UTEPs seven losses, five of them have come by a single score. The Miners will face Boise State in the first round, a team they lost to, 2-1, on Oct. 24.
Tulsa concluded the 2003 WAC race with a 2-6 record, which earned the Golden Hurricane a seventh place finish. TU narrowly missed out on qualifying for its seventh WAC Tournament appearance in its eight seasons as a WAC member. Tulsa also finished in seventh place in 1999 and missed the conference tournament for the first time. Tulsa junior goalkeeper Pam Devore started and played the entire 90 minutes against San Jose State, and picked up her first shutout of the season and the eighth of her career. She was forced to make just three saves on the day.