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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ?“ Hawai'i forward Natasha Kai and Louisiana Tech goalkeeper Chrissy Haisler have been named the Western Athletic Conference women?™s soccer offensive and defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Kai, a senior from Kahuku, Hawaii (Kahuku), scored a goal and assisted on the game-winner in Hawai'i?™s win over George Mason. Kai tallied three points in the win, moving her into secong all-time on the WAC?™s career list with 131. She also fired 10 shots, leaving her 30 short of number one.
Haisler, a freshman from Waco, Texas (Midway), went 1-1 on the week, turning in a shutout performance in Louisiana Tech?™s first ever program victory. Hailser helped Tech to the, 2-0, win over Mississippi Valley State, making two saves as the Devilettes were held to three shots in the contest.
Other offensive nominees included: Cortney Sobrero, Fresno State and Katy Garrison, Louisiana Tech.
Other defensive nominees included: None
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC ?“ The WAC enters week two of the season with all eight teams in action. San Jose State battles in-state rivals this week, facing off with Long Beach State, Stanford and UC Riverside. Boise State travels to Flagstaff, Ari., for the NAU Tournament and matches with UC Davis and Bowling Green. Utah State faces UNLV at home. Idaho travels west to face off with Portland State, then south for a match with Utah. Nevada plays host to Sacramento State. Hawai' hosts another tournament in the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Soccer Classic. The Wahine take on Pepperdine and Eastern Michigan. Louisiana Tech looks to follow up its program?™s first-ever win, taking on Robert Morris and Centenary. Fresno State makes the short trip north to take on Sacramento State.
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.
LADY TECHSTERS GRAB PROGRAM?™S FIRST WIN ?“ Louisiana Tech made history as it recorded its first-ever win with a, 2-0, home victory over Mississippi Valley State. A Joe Aillet Stadium crowd of 178 erupted in cheers as Tech scored its first goal of the season 45:45 into the contest as Katy Garrison netted one off an assist from Sara Chovanec. The Lady Techsters added a second goal at the 54:08 mark as Emily Cleaveland blasted a shot into the nets off a pass from Alex Reinhart to give Tech its first program victory after going 0-10-2 last season and dropping its season opener at Northwestern State.
EXTRA PLAY IN OPENING WEEKEND ?“ Four WAC teams needed overtime matches during the first week of play, going 1-2-2. Hawai'i grabbed the lone win, posting a, 2-1, win over George Mason at the OHANA Hotels and Resorts No Kai Oi. The Wahine followed up their thrilling win, suffering a, 1-0, loss to BYU in the second overtime with 33 ticks left on the clock. Idaho fell to Washington State, 1-0, in the first overtime. Nevada finished all square with UC Riverside after two extra frames, knotted at one a piece. Utah State tied in-state rival Southern Utah, 1-1.
WELL TRAVELED ?“ Three WAC schools play four conescutive road matches this year in Boise State, Fresno State and San Jose State. The Bulldogs and Spartans are in the midst of their extended travels. The Bulldogs started the trip off well, earning a, 2-1, win over CS Northridge. Next up for the Bulldogs are trips to San Francisco (9/2), Sacramento State (9/4) and Pacific (9/9). San Jose State also has one match down in its road trip, falling to CS Fullerton. The road doesn?™t get any easier with stops at Long Beach State (8/30), Stanford (9/2) and UC Riverside (9/9). Boise State?™s four-match road trip begins Sept. 24 with a stop at IUPUI (Indianapolis - 9/24). The Broncos also make stops at Southern Utah (9/26), Texas A&M (9/30) and TCU (10/2).
FOUR WAHINE NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT ?“ Hawai'i placed four on the OHANA Hotels and Resorts No Kai Oi all-Tournament team. Defenders Koren Takeyama and Krisha Kai, and freshman goalkeeper Kori Lu, received the nod, while forward Natasha Kai was also tabbed.
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.
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 goalkeeper 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.
KAI MOVING UP RECORD LISTS ?“ Hawai'i senior forward Natasha Kai, is moving up the WAC career list. Kai is second all-time in shots with 339, 29 behind BYU?™s Shauna Rohbuck. Kai posted her first goal of the 2005 season, moving her career total to 58 which is good for third and is nine behind Kim Harvey of SMU for second. At 131 career points, Kai is 25 points behind SMU?™s Kim Harvey who is second. Kai set a new single-season record for shots at 130 in 2004. 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.
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 def.
Boise State, 3-0
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
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.
Boise State Broncos (0-1, 0-0 WAC)Boise State travels to Flagstaff, Ariz., where it will meet a pair of first time opponents in UC-Davis (0-2-0) on Sept. 2 and 2004 NCAA Tournament participant Bowling Green (0-2-0) on Sept. 4, in the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Mountain Classic hosted by Northern Arizona University ... the Broncos enter the week at 0-1-0 overall after dropping their season opener 3-0 to Utah in Boise, Idaho.
Fresno State Bulldogs (1-1, 0-0 WAC) Fresno State enters a stretch where it will play five of its next seven contests on the road ... that trend continues this weekend, with road matches at San Francisco and Sacramento State ... Fresno State passed its first road test of the season, edging Cal State Northridge, 2-1, over the weekend ... the victory was especially important because the Bulldogs suffered a hard-fought, 2-1, loss to UC Santa Barbara in the season opener despite dominating the Gauchos in almost every statistical category.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai'i had its run of highs and lows in the opening weekend, picking up an ovetime loss and win ... Krisha Kai, getting an assist from sister Natasha Kai scored six minutes into overtime, securing a, 2-1, win to open the season .. two days later, the Wahine fell 33 seconds short of remaining unbeaten, falling, 1-0, in double overtime to BYU ... in hosting its second straight home tournament, Hawai'i faces off with Pepperdine and Eastern Washington at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Soccer Classic.
Idaho Vandals (0-1, 0-0 WAC) Idaho began the season, its first in the WAC, with a, 1-0, loss in overtime at the hands of Washington State ... Cougar Megan Hyte scored in the 98th minute of the match to give the Cougars the win ... the Vandals take to the road this week, facing Portland State and Utah ... goalkeeper Lindsay Smith?™s nine saves against the Cougars leads the WAC?™s single-match performances.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (1-1, 0-0 WAC) Louisiana Tech?™s win over Mississippi Valley State was the first program win ever as the team went 0-10-2 last season and dropped the season opened at Northwestern State ... Tech goalkeeper Chrissy Haisler has five saves and a .625 save percentage ... Louisiana Tech took many more offensive chances on the week than its opponents, outshooting the opposition 26-15 ... the Techsters continue their home-stand with matches against Robert Morris and Centenary.
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-1-1, 0-0 WAC) Nevada continues its non-conference schedule at home against Sacramento State and Eastern Washington ... the Pack faced the Hornets during the 2004 season and Nevada dropped a, 2-1, ovetime match in Sacramento ... Sacramento State leads the all-time series between the two schools, 3-0 the Pack last played Eastern Washington during the 2002 season and recorded a, 3-2, victory ... the Nevada-Eastern Washington series is even at 1-1.
San Jose State Spartans (0-2, 0-0 WAC) The Spartans suffered a pair of losses to fellow Golden State teams, falling, 2-1, to UC Irvine and, 5-1, to CS Fullerton ... San Jose State has three road matches this week, taking on Long Beach State, Stanford and UC Riverside ... goalkeeper Adrienne Herbst?™s 12 saves during the openning weekend are the early conference leader.
Utah State State Aggies (0-1-1, 0-0 WAC) Utah State continues to look for its first win of the season as the UNLV Rebels visit Logan ... the match-up is the final match of USU?™s three-match home stand to open the 2005 season ... Utah State has been unable to get the proverbial monkey of its back, going winless in its last six regular-season matches (0-5-1) ... the Aggies?™ last win came against UC Irvine (3-1) on Oct. 17, 2004 ... the winless streak is USU?™s longest since a win evaded it for eight matches during the 2002 season.