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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 will add in 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.
TOP STAT LEADERS ?“ Following are the returning stat leaders in the WAC for 2005. Senior Natasha Kai of Hawai'i leads the field, scoring 12 goals and assisting on five for 29 points in 2004. Kai registered a WAC record 130 shots as well, notching seven match-winning goals. San Jose State?™s Vanessa Alfonso returns as the WAC?™s top assister with five. Fellow Spartan Adrienne Herbst pulled down 95 saves to top the WAC last season. Hawai'i?™s Mahie Atay tallied an .880 save percentage and 0.64 goals-against-average in 2004 to lead the field. Boise State?™s Kim Parker posted five shutouts in 18 matches a season ago.
RETURNING ALL-WAC PLAYERS ?“ The WAC returns only four all-conference players for the 2005 season. Fresno State has two in first-team selection Cortney Sobrero and second-teamer Rochelle Jagdeo. Boise State returners second-team all-WAC goal keeper Kim Parker, while Hawai'i returns Natasha Kai, a three-time first-team selection. Although Utah State had two all-Big West selections, they were both lost to graduation.
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE ?“ The 2005 WAC schedule includes 95 non-conference matches:
Conference (#)
Big Sky (19) - sSacramento State, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Northern Arizona, Portland State, Weber State
Big 12 (1) - Texas A&M
Big West (19) -sCal Poly, CS Fullerton, CS Northridge, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, Pacific
CCAA (1) - CS Bakersfield
Colonial Athletic (1) -sGeorge Mason
Conference USA (1) -sSouthern Mississippi
GCAC (2) - Belhaven College, William Carey
Horizon League (1) -sButler
Independent (5) - South Dakota, Utah Valley State, Northern Colorado
Mid-American (2) -sBowling Green, Eastern Michigan
Mid-Continent (4) - Centenary, IUPUI, Southern Utah
Mountain West (14) -sBYU, UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State, Air Force, Utah, TCU
Northeast (2) -sRobert Morris
Pac-10 (3)s- Oregon, Stanford, Washington State
Southland (7) -sMcNeese, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, Texas State
Southwesterns(2) -sArkansas-Pine Bluff, Mississippi Valley State
West Coast (9) -sGonzaga, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Santa Clara, St. Mary?™s
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.
Utah at Boise State, Aug. 28
Boise State vs. Bowling Green, Sept. 4
Boise State at Texas A&M, Sept. 30
Cal Poly at Fresno State, Sept. 11
Fresno State at UNLV, Sept. 16
Fresno State at Santa Clara, Oct. 7
Pepperdine at Hawai'i, Sept. 2
Hawai'i vs. Weber State, Sept. 10
Idaho at Utah, Sept. 4
Idaho at Weber State, Sept. 15
Nevada at UNLV, Aug. 28
San Jose State at Stanford, Sept. 2
Cal Poly at San Jose State, Sept. 9
Santa Clara at San Jose State, Sept. 28
UNLV at Utah State, Sept. 2
Utah at Utah State, Sept. 22
Utah State at Weber State, Oct. 1
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. The following is a list of sites and dates for the 2005 NCAA Tournament:
First/Second Rounds (16)
November 11 and 13, 2005
On campus sites TBD
Third Rounds (8)
November 18 or 19 or 20, 2005
On campus sites TBD
Quarterfinals (4)
November 25 or 26 or 27, 2005
On campus sites TBD
Women?™s College Cup
December 2 and 4, 2005
Aggie Soccer Complex
College Station, Texas
Host: Texas A&M
KAI MOVING UP RECORD LISTS ?“ Hawai'i senior forward Natasha Kai, moved into the top five in three WAC career records in 2004. Kai is second all-time in shots with 328, 40 behind BYU?™s Shauna Rohbuck. Kai posted 12 goals in 2004, moving her career total to 57 which is good for third and is 10 behind Kim Harvey of SMU for second. At 128 career points, Kai is two points behind New Mexico?™s Laurie Hegedorn who is third. Kai also set a new single-season record for shots at 130. She passed 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.
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, comparison 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.