THIS WEEK IN THE WAC ?“ The WAC enters week five of the season with only one team yet to find a win. San Jose State battled to a 0-0 tie with UC Davis last week, stopping its seven-match losing streak. The Spartans host San Francisco, before traveling to Sacramento State in search of their first win. Boise State is atop the WAC standings with three matches this week. The Broncos host Idaho State before traveling to Cedar City, Utah, for matches with IUPUI and Southern Utah. Fresno State looks to stretch its two-match win streak, hosting Long Beach State in its lone match of the week. Utah State plays host to in state rival Utah and Portland State. Hawai'i returns home for the Outrigger Hotels Soccer Shootout where it will host Butler and Robert Morris. Louisiana Tech, after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season, looks to get back to its winning ways. The Lady Techsters host McNeese and Southern Mississippi this week. Nevada has a two-match home stand this week, with the Lobos of New Mexico and the Cougars of Washington State coming to Reno. Idaho travels to Albuquerque for its only match of the week, taking on New Mexico.
Click on this link for a .pdf version of the Weekly Soccer NotesXBOX LIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ?“ Utah State forward Charity Weston and Boise State goalkeeper Kim Parker have been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference women?™s soccer offensive and defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Weston, a junior from Layton, Utah, scored the game-winning goals in both matches for Utah State last week as the Aggies went 2-0 for the week. She helped USU capture its first win of the season as she scored two goals in its, 3-1, win against San Francisco. Weston then added her third goal of the week as the Aggies shutout Idaho State, 2-0, on Saturday. She now leads the team with eight points and is tied with Dana Peart for the team lead in goals (3).
Parker, a junior from Portland, Oregon, started one-of-two matches this weekend but played one half in both contests recording 110 minutes of shutout ball. Parker faced 14 shots recording five saves as the Broncos won the Soccer Etc. Nike Classic championship this past weekend. Against Northern Arizona, she made two key saves just before half from point blank range to preserve the 1-0 Boise State advantage. Parker has now stretched her school career record for combined (shared and solo) shutouts to 15 matches. Against Eastern Washington (second half) Parker intercepted numerous Eagle crosses and made two key saves to maintain the 1-1 draw she inherited from the first half. She was named to the all-classic team as the top goalkeeper and the tournament?™s defensive MVP.
Other offensive nominees included: Nicole Coleman, Boise State and Cortney Sobrero, Fresno State.
Other defensive nominees included: Chrissy Haisler, Louisiana Tech; Adrienne Herbst, San Jose State and Liz Masson, Utah State.
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SoccerAmerica MagazineBULLDOGS TAKE UNLV ADIDAS CLASSIC TITLE ?“ Fresno State matched a school-record with 34 shot attempts but needed an overtime goal from Cortney Sobrero to record a, 3-2, victory over Sam Houston State to win the UNLV adidas Classic in Las Vegas. Sobrero?™s goal came just 44 seconds into the first overtime period, as she tapped in a cross from Kortney Lewis from three yards out. Sobrero ripped off a career-best 12 shots in the match, seven of which were on goal. Fresno State, which held a 34-10 edge in shot attempts with 18 coming on goal, previously recorded 34 shots during a 7-1 rout of San Jose State back on Oct. 10, 2003.
BOISE STATE TAKES SOCCER ETC. NIKE CLASSIC ?“ Boise State and Eastern Washington played to a 1-1 draw in the final match of the Soccer Etc. Nike Classic at the Boas Tennis and Soccer Complex in Boise, Idaho. The tie gave Boise State the Classic?™s title as the Broncos finished 1-0-1 on the weekend. That makes two straight tournament titles in the last two weeks for the Broncos after winning the Montana Nike Cup last weekend in Missoula, Mont.
LOUISIANA TECH IN NATION'S TOP 10 ?“ Louisiana Tech is ranked seventh nationally in socring offense. The Lady Techster offense has posted 3.38 goals per match this season. It?™s not just all offense for Tech, as they have posted four shutouts in 2005 as well.
DROPPIN?™ DIMES ?“ Hawai'i?™s Adria Campbell registered three assists against Eastern Michigan. She rankes fourth in the country in with that single-match high. She also leads the WAC with 0.57 assists per match.
WELL TRAVELED ?“ Three WAC schools play or 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 begins Sept. 24 taking on IUPUI in Cedar City, Utah. The Broncos continue at Southern Utah (9/26), before traveling to Texas A&M (9/30) and TCU (10/2).
TARPENNING MOVING UP SAVES LISTS ?“ Nevada senior goalkeeper Megan Tarpenning has posted 20 saves in five matches this year, moving her into a tie for fourth on the WAC?™s all-time list with 363. Tarpenning needs just 10 more saves to tie Tawni Martineau of Utah for third.
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 353, 15 behind BYU?™s Shauna Rohbuck. Kai has posted four goals this season, moving her career total to 61 which is good for third and is six behind Kim Harvey of SMU for second. At 135 career points, Kai is 21 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.
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.
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.
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 at
Utah State, Sept. 22
Santa Clara at
San Jose State, Sept. 28
Boise State at Texas A&M, Sept. 30
Utah State at
Weber State, Oct. 1
Fresno State at Santa Clara, Oct. 7
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, 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.