THIS WEEK IN THE WAC ?“ The WAC enters week eight, the second week of league play. It is all WAC all the time this weekend, with eight matches slated for October 14 and 16. Idaho returns home after an 0-2 conference start, taking on Fresno State and Nevada. Boise State hopes it is not playing at home for its final time this season, with the WAC Tournament in Boise. The Broncos conclude this home schedule this week, taking on Nevada and Fresno State. Louisiana Tech hosts its first-ever home WAC match, with Hawai'i and San Jose State traveling east. Before their cross country flight east, the Spartans take on Utah State in San Jose, Calif. Hawai'i will conclude the longest travel weekend in the WAC, going from Honolulu to Ruston, La. (vs. LT, Oct. 14) and to Logan, Utah for a match with Utah State on Oct. 16.
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XBOX LIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ?“ Hawai'i forward Natasha Kai and defender Krisha Kai have been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference women?™s soccer offensive and defensive Players of the Week, respectively. The sister?™s are the first soccer duo to make the award a family affair.
Natasha Kai, a senior from Kahuku, Hawaii, scored three goals and posted one assist in the first week of WAC play. She led the Wahine as they posted a, 4-0, win over Idaho and a, 3-0, win over Boise State. She posted two goals in the win over the Vandals and one in the win over the Broncos. The two-goal effort was her third multiple-goal match of the season and the 18th of her career. She registered one assist against Idaho as well.
Krisha Kai, a junior from Kahuku, Hawaii, helped the Hawai'i defense to post back-to-back shutouts over Idaho and Boise State. She anchored a defense that allowed just three shots (two on goal) versus Idaho and five shots (one on goal) against Boise State. She also added an assist in the win over Boise State.
Other offensive nominees included: Naomi Hernandez, Nevada; Liz Behlen, San Jose State and Lindsay Lauro, Utah State.
Other defensive nominees included: Chrissy Haisler, Louisiana Tech; Jessica Wilcox, Nevada; Adrienne Herbst, San Jose State and Liz Masson, Utah State.
NATIONAL POLLS - Click on the following links to view the current national polls.
NSCAA
National | West | Central
SoccerBuzz.com
National | West | Central
SoccerTimes.com
SoccerAmerica Magazine
POINTING TO BOISE ?“ The WAC Tournament field is based on points this season, with the top six teams advancing to Boas Soccer Complex and Boise, Idaho. Each team receives three points for a win and one point for a tie. The following are the cuurent point totals for 2005.
Hawai'i, 6
Nevada, 3
Utah State, 3
Boise State, 3
San Jose State, 3
Louisiana Tech, 0
Fresno State, 0
Idaho, 0
NEVADA CONTINUES RECORD FOR WINS ?“ Nevada, in just its second season under head coach Terri Patraw, has set a new single-season record for wins. Only 12 matches into the season, the Wolf Pack has tallied seven wins, topping the mark of four set three previous times. With six matches left in the regular-season schedule, Nevada is having its best-ever season.
WAC IN THE NATIONAL STATS ?“ Louisiana Tech continues to be ranked among the nation?™s highest scoring offenses, coming in thrid with 3.82 points per match. Hawai'i?™s Natasha Kai is avergaing 2.20 points per match, ranking her 14th in the country, while Louisiana Teach?™s Emily Cleaveland is averaging 2.09, good for 19th. Kai is also 18th in the NCAA with 0.90 goals per match. Fellow Wahine Adria Campbell leads the WAC and is ranked seventh in the nation with 0.73 assists per match.
KAI RUNNING AWAY WITH WAC?™S CAREER SHOTS ?“ Hawai'i senior forward Natasha Kai, became the new career leader for shots, with six against Robert Morris, giving her 369. She passed BYU?™s Shauna Rohbuck who posted 368 from 1995-98. Kai continues her pace, firing 73 this season, moving her career total to 401.
BOISE STATE CELEBRATES SENIOR DAY ?“ Boise State returns to Boise for its final two regular season home matches this weekend. Fresno State comes to town for "Senior Day" October 16. The Broncos will honor its three seniors in a short pre-match ceremony on Sunday at 12:45 p.m. as it says thanks and good-bye to Maureen Shea (Boise, Idaho), Julie Allen (Boise, Idaho) and Lindsay Crawford (Kentfield, Calif.).
WELL TRAVELED ?“ Three WAC schools have played four consecutive road matches this year in Boise State, Fresno State and San Jose State. The Bulldogs concluded its trip at Pacific, falling 3-1. The Bulldogs started the trip off well, earning a, 2-1, win over CS Northridge, but fell to San Francisco (3-0), Sacramento State (1-0). San Jose State finished its road trip, 0-4, falling to CS Fullerton, Long Beach State, Stanford and UC Riverside. Boise State?™s four-match road trip continued at Texas A&M, falling 2-0, and finished at TCU, falling, 1-0, in overtime. The Broncos earned two wins in its first two matches, defeating IUPUI , 4-1 and playing to a double-overtime draw with Southern Utah, 1-1.
TARPENNING MOVING UP SAVES LISTS ?“ Nevada senior goalkeeper Megan Tarpenning has posted 30 saves in 12 matches this year, moving her into a tie for third on the WAC?™s all-time list with 373. Tarpenning tied Tawni Martineau of Utah for third.
KAI MOVING UP RECORD LISTS ?“ Kai has posted nine goals this season, moving her career total to 66 which is good for third and is one behind Kim Harvey of SMU for second. At 149 career points, Kai is seven points behind SMU?™s Kim Harvey who is second. Kai set a new single-season record for shots at 130 in 2004. She passed BYU?™s Shauna Rohbuck who tallied 108 in 1996. She set the new shots mark in the conference-season as well, as she tallied 49 shots, to top 44 by Sherry Dick of TCU in 2000.
WAC ENTERS NEW ERA ?“ The WAC is a nine-team league with the additions of Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State following the departures of Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa. It is the third time in conference history that the WAC will be comprised of nine teams (1980-91 and 2000). Only Idaho and Utah State sponsor women?™s soccer. Louisiana Tech added a women?™s soccer progam in 2004, but this will be the first year it competes in the WAC.
SOCCER FORMAT ?“ With the addition of Idaho, Louisiana Tech and Utah State and the loss of Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa, the WAC has taken on a new format. Along with the Vandals, Lady Techsters and Aggies, Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Nevada and San Jose State all sponsor a women?™s soccer program. The WAC will continue its regular-season play as a single round-robin format for a total of eight conference matches, but added a points system. Each team will receive three points for a win and one point for a tie. The six teams with the most points at the end of the regular season will advance to the WAC Tournament.
NCAA OPPONENTS ?“ Of the 95 non-conference matchups, 17 are against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year and six are at WAC home sites. Seven teams in the WAC play at least one non-conference opponent that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year while Boise State, Fresno State, San Jose State and Utah State are playing a WAC-high three NCAA opponents. Hawai'i and Idaho are playing two, while Nevada is playing one.
UNLV def. Nevada, 5-0
Utah def. Boise State, 3-0
Pepperdine def. Hawai'i, 2-0
UNLV def. Utah State, 2-1
Utah def. Idaho, 4-1
Stanford def. San Jose State, 5-0
Bowling Green def. Boise State, 1-0
Cal Poly def. San Jose State, 4-1
Hawai'i tied Weber State, 0-0 (2OT)
Cal Poly def. Fresno State, 3-0
Weber State def. Idaho, 2-1
Fresno State def. UNLV, 1-0
Utah def. Utah State, 3-0
Santa Clara def. San Jose State, 2-1
Texas A&M def. Boise State, 2-0
Weber State def. Utah State, 1-0
Santa Clara def. Fresno State, 2-0
COLLEGE CUP ?“ The 24th Annual Women?™s College Cup will be held December 2-4 at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas. Last season, the WAC had two teams compete in postseason play, with Rice and SMU both falling in the first round. Visit ncaasports.com/soccer/womens/schedules/divi for more information.
TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURE ?“ To determine championship seeding in the event of ties between two teams or ties among multiple teams, the following criteria are applied:
In the event of a two-way tie:
1. Head-to-head competition
2. Compare the teams?™ records to that of the next highest finishing team (if tie for first). If tie is for position other than first, comparisn will begin at the top of the standings.
3. In the unlikely event that teams are still tied, the conference conducts a draw.
For a three or more-way tie:
1. Head-to-head competition among the teams involved in the tie. The team(s) with the best record against the other teams receives the higher seed or advances to the next tie-breaker.
2. Same procedures as above.
WAC TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (6-4-2, 1-1 WAC)
Boise State opened WAC play with a split record, needing overtime to defeat San Jose State, 2-1, before falling to Hawai'i, 3-0 ... Boise State returns to Boise for its final two regular-season home matches this weekend as it entertains much improved Nevada and then Fresno State for Senior Day ... the Broncos will honor their three seniors in a short pre-match ceremony as they say thanks and good-bye to Maureen Shea, Julie Allen and Lindsay Crawford.
Fresno State Bulldogs (3-6-1, 0-1 WAC) Fresno State has been struggling as of late, dropping back-to-back matches over the weekend while going winless since a 3-2 victory over Sept. 18 against Sam Houston State ... the Bulldogs look to snap their losing streak when they continue their four-match road swing and square off against WAC newcomer Idaho ... two days later, Fresno State tangles with Boise State which will serve as the host school for this year?™s WAC Tournament ... there are six games remaining in conference play, with three of those at home and three on the road.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (5-6-2, 2-0 WAC)
Hawai'i won back-to-back matches for the first time this season, shutting out Idaho and Boise State to open WAC play ... the Rainbow Wahine have won nine straight home conference matches dating back to 2003 and 15 of its last 16 dating back to 2001 ... Natasha Kai registered three goals over opening weekend, returning to her all-WAC ways ... Hawai'i takes to the road this week, facing the tough road schedule of Louisiana Tech and Utah State.
Idaho Vandals (2-10, 0-2 WAC) Idaho?™s current nine match losing streak is the longest since the Vandals lost 12 straight in 1998, the first year of Idaho soccer ... the Vandals haven?™t scored a goal in three matches and have only scored a total of four goals during the nine game losing streak ... the road doesn?™t get any better for Idaho as it host Fresno State and Nevada this weekend.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (7-4, 0-1 WAC) Louisiana Tech will host two conference matches, with Hawai'i and San Jose State traveling to Ruston ... the Lady Techsters are ranked third in the country in scoring offense, registering 3.82 goals per match ... forward Emily Cleaveland continues to lead the Techsters, as she has 23 points on the season.
Nevada Wolf Pack (7-4-1, 1-0 WAC)
Nevada has won its last three matches and five of its last six .. the three-match winning streak is the longest in school history ... freshman Miranda Montejo tied the school record with her seventh goal of the season against Fresno State ... the Wolf Pack scored five of its goals last weekend in the second half ... Nevada is outscoring opponents 16-7 in the second period ... the Wolf Pack are on the road this week, taking on Boise State and Idaho.
San Jose State Spartans (1-10-2, 1-1 WAC) San Jose State got its first win of 2005, blanking Idaho, 2-0, in its WAC home opener inside Spartan Stadium ... the Spartans scored first in a game for the sixth time this season, and finally were able to hang on for the duration ... the Spartans continue the 2005 WAC slate with a pair of matches in the week ahead, both against teams they have never faced before ... the Spartans first host Utah State at Spartan Stadium, then flies to Ruston, La., to take on Louisiana Tech.
Utah State State Aggies (3-7-3, 1-0 WAC) A full slate of WAC matches awaits Utah State, as it travels to San Jose State and hosts Hawai?™i ... the Aggies have put together their second two-match winning streak this season and look to win three straight for the first time since going 3-0 from Oct. 10-17 of last season ... the Aggies opened last week by winning at Utah Valley State, 2-1 ... the win snapped a five-match road-losing streak dating back to Oct. 10 of last season ... USU then officially opened WAC play with a, 2-0, shutout of Louisiana Tech.