THIS WEEK IN THE WAC ?“ The WAC enters week nine, the thirdweek of league play. Hawai'i started off the week, getting back to its winning ways, defeating Utah Valley State, 1-0. Idaho will face its second nationally ranked opponent, taking on Long Beach State, Oct. 18. In WAC play, there are only six matches as four teams are playing travel partners. The Rainbow Wahine continue their long stint on the mainland, facing a streaking San Jose State team. The Spartans have scored 10 goals in their last three matches bettering the nine scored in their first 12. Louisiana Tech travels west for matches with Fresno State and Nevada, Oct. 21 and 23, respectively. Utah State also takes on the Nevada and Fresno State, taking on the Wolf Pack, Oct. 21 and the Bulldogs, Oct. 23. Boise State and Idaho battle for Gem State bragging rights, with the Broncos traveling to Moscow, Oct. 23.
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XBOX LIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ?“ San Jose State forward Liz Behlen and Fresno State goalkeeper Angie Larsen have been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference women?™s soccer offensive and defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Liz Behlen, a freshman from Sunnyvalle, Calif., scored twice against Utah State and once against Louisiana Tech, including an assist. She registered the first and fourth goal against the Aggies and capped off a four-goal team effort against Louisiana Tech. Along with her assist against the Lady Techsters, Behlen recorded seven points over the week. Behlen leads the Spartans in goals scored (6), assists (3) and total points (15), and is tied with freshman teammate Jessica Scott with 34 shots each.
Larsen, a junior from San Jose, Calif., posted two shutouts in two WAC road matches over the weekend. She helped the Bulldogs to a, 1-0, win over Idaho. She tallied three saves in the win. Against Boise State, Larsen had two saves, leading the Bulldogs to a, 1-0, double-overtime win.
Other offensive nominees included: Nicole Coleman, Boise State; Miranda Montejo, Nevada and Charity Weston, Utah State.
Other defensive nominees included: Kim Parker, Boise State; Jackie Cruz, San Jose State and Liz Masson, Utah State.
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 current point totals for 2005.
Hawai'i 9
San Jose State 9
Boise State 6
Fresno State 6
Nevada 6
Utah State 6
Louisiana Tech 0
Idaho 0
TOURNEY ON THE HORIZON ?“ With only two weeks left in the regular season, teams are fighting for a berth to the WAC Tournament. The top six teams based on points will travel to Boise, Idaho and the Boad Soccer Complex, Nov. 3-5 for the WACTournament. This is clinching weekend for many of the teams. A Louisiana Tech loss to Fresno State, clinches tournament berths for San Jose State, Hawai'i and Fresno State.
NEVADA CONTINUES RECORD FOR WINS ?“ In just its second season under head coach Terri Patraw, Nevada has set a new single-season record for wins. With only four matches remaining on this season, the Wolf Pack has tallied eight wins, topping the mark of four set three previous times. Nevada has also tallied two WAC wins, setting a new season record. It had only posted two WAC wins total coming into 2005.
WAC IN THE NATIONAL STATS ?“ Louisiana Tech continues to be ranked among the nation?™s highest scoring offenses, coming in sixth with 3.23 points per match. Rainbow Wahine Adria Campbell leads the WAC and is ranked 16th in the nation with 0.62 assists per match.
KAI RUNNING AWAY WITH WAC?™S CAREER SHOTS ?“ Hawai'i senior forward Natasha Kai, became the new WAC career leader for shots, with six against Robert Morris on Sept. 25, giving her 369. She passed BYU?™s Shauna Rohbuck who posted 368 from 1995-98. Kai continues her pace, firing 89 this season, moving her career total to 417. Against Louisiana Tech, Kai had 16 shots, setting a new WAC-match record. She passes TCU?™s Sherry Dick.
WELL TRAVELED ?“ Three WAC schools 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 40 saves in 14 matches this year, moving her into second on the WAC?™s all-time list with 383. She is 23 short of second, held by Jennifer Johnstone of Fresno State.
KAI MOVING UP RECORD LISTS ?“ Kai has posted nine goals this season, moving her career total to 68 which is good for second and is 27 behind Shauna Rohbuck of SMU for first. At 153 career points, Kai is three points behind SMU?™s Kim Harvey who is second. Kai set a WAC single-match record for shots as she fired 16 against Louisiana Tech on Oct. 14. In 2004, Kai also set a new single-season record for shots at 130. She set the new shots mark in the conference-season as well, tallying 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 (7-5-2, 2-2 WAC)
Boise State is coming off a home split last week versus Nevada (W,,3-2) and Fresno State (L, 1-0), both matches were decided in double-overtime ... the Broncos have now played five overtime matches in their last seven contests going 2-2-1 in those extra-time matches ... they have set a new school record for overtime matches in a season with six (2-2-2) this year ... Nicole Coleman continues to lead the Broncos adding to her team high stats over the weekend with one goal and one assist giving her five goals and five assists on the season ... Boise State now faces three road matches to finish the regular season beginning with this week?™s lone game at arch-rival Idaho in Moscow.
Fresno State Bulldogs (5-6-1, 2-1 WAC)
A critical conference road sweep last week has put Fresno State in position to clinch its 11th consecutive WAC Tournament berth as early as this weekend ... after recording back-to-back, 1-0, wins against Idaho and Boise State, Fresno State continues to climb in the conference standings ... the Bulldogs look to continue their surge hosting Louisiana Tech to open a three-match homestand at Bulldog Stadium ... the weekend concludes with conference newcomer Utah State making its first-ever appearance in Fresno.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (7-7-2, 3-1 WAC)
Hawai'i evened its record, going, 2-1 over its last three matches ... after a solid, 4-0, win over Louisiana Tech, the Wahine, minus WAC Preseason Player of the Year Natasha Kai, fell to Utah State, 2-1 ... Kai was injured during the match against Louisiana Tech ... stepping out of WAC play for one match, Hawai'i, scored an early goal, helping them to a, 1-0, win over Utah Valley State ... UH concludes its road trip, facing San Jose State on Oct. 21.s
Idaho Vandals (2-12, 0-4 WAC)
Idaho faces its second ranked opponent of the season, Long Beach State, ranked No. 25 by Soccer America ... the Vandals fell, 4-1, to the last ranked opponent they faced, No. 22 Utah ... in six home matches, Idaho?™s attendance average is 519, up significantly from 195 in 2004 ... Idaho?™s losing streak has hit 11 matches, one short of the school record set in 1998, the first year of soccer at Idaho ... Idaho?™s scoring drought has hit five games with its last score coming Sept. 30 vs. Gonzaga ... Idaho has scored only four goals in its last 11 games.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (7-6, 0-3 WAC)
Louisiana Tech travels west, looking for its first WAC win ... the Lady Techsters make their first trip to Fresno State and Nevada ... after a blistering 19 goals to finish non-conference play, the Techsters?™ offense has come to a halt being shut out in its last three matches ... goalkeeper Chrissy Haisler leads the WAC with 34 saves.s
Nevada Wolf Pack (8-5-1, 2-1 WAC)
Winners of four of its last five games, Nevada is tied for third place in the WAC standings with a 2-1 mark in league play ... the Wolf Pack will play host to Utah State and Louisiana Tech this weekend in the team?™s Mackay Stadium finale ... Nevada trails just Hawai?™i and San Jose State in the WAC standings and is tied for third with Utah State and Fresno State ... with four conference matches remaining in the season, the Pack is looking to qualify for its first trip to the WAC Tournament, which will be hosted by Boise State Nov. 3-5.
San Jose State Spartans (3-10-2, 2-1 WAC)
San Jose State is now on its first three-game win streak since the Spartans won three games in four days to take the WAC title in Fresno, Calif., in early November, 2000 ... the Spartan win against Louisiana Tech also allowed them to surpass their WAC win total from the entire 2004 season of two, and equaled their highest WAC win total ever, since joining the conference in 1996 ... behind Behlen, San Jose State has scored 10 goals in the last three games, all WAC wins, after managing just nine goals over the first 12 matches.
Utah State State Aggies (4-8-3, 2-1 WAC)
Utah State, winners of three out of its last four matches, embarks on its final road trip of the regular season as it heads to Nevada on Fri., Oct. 21 and Fresno State on Sun., Oct. 23 ... junior Charity Weston has been on a scoring rampage as of late as she has tallied three goals and two assists in USU?™s last four games ... Weston leads the team in both goals (6) and assists (4) this season ... with a 2-1 WAC record, Utah State is off to its best conference start since going 3-0 to start Big West play in 2003 ... prior to the 2003 season, the Aggies?™ best conference start was a similar 2-1 record in 1999.