FINAL WEEK OF REGULAR SEASON PL AY ? There is a battle for first place in the WAC on Friday Oct. 27 when San Jose State hosts Fresno State. Both teams have 4-0-1 records for 13 points. Third place, Utah State, will travel to Boise State and Idaho. Both the Broncos and the Vandals are battling to earn berths in the upcoming WAC Tournament. After taking on San Jose State, the Bulldogs will host Hawai?i on Sunday, Oct. 29. Nevada will host San Jose State on Oct. 29. The seeds for the WAC Tournament are still up in the air.
UPDATED POINT TOTALS ? Fresno State, San Jose State, Utah State and Nevada have each clinched a spot in the 2006 WAC Tournament, Nov. 2-5 in Reno, Nev. The defending WAC Tournament Champion Bulldogs are currently tied for the lead in points with San Jose State with 13 points. Utah State is close behind with 11 points. Host school, Nevada, has seven points to secure its spot in the tournament. Hawai?i, currently in fifth place with six points is battling Boise State (5 points), Idaho (1 point) and Louisiana Tech (0 points) for one of the final two spots in the six-team tournament. The Rainbow Wahine can clinch a spot with a win or tie on the road or a tie or loss by Idaho and Louisiana Tech. The Broncos can clinch a spot with win or a loss by either Idaho or Louisiana Tech.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK ? San Jose State midfielder Nicole Irwin and Utah State goalkeeper Ali Griffin have been named the Western Athletic Conference women’s soccer offensive and defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Irwin, a junior from Dublin, Calif. (Dublin), produced a three-goal second-half hat trick to lead San Jose State to a 4-2 win at defending WAC regular-season champion Hawai’i on Sunday, Oct. 22. The 2005 first-team all-WAC and 2006 preseason all-WAC selection then made it a 3-0 match at 65:26, taking a through ball from Jessica Scott and firing left-footed from the left. After back-to-back goals pulled the Rainbow Wahine to within one goal at 3-2, Irwin put the result out of doubt with a 30-yard left-footed blast over UH goalkeeper Kori Lu and into the upper left corner of the net. Irwin earned credit for her team-leading fourth game-winning goal of 2006, which also ties for the WAC lead.
Griffin, a sophomore from South Jordan, Utah (Bingham), made a career-high nine saves in Friday’s win over Nevada. She also had four saves in the Aggies win over Hawai?i on Oct. 16. The sophomore added three saves against Fresno State, posting her second-straight shutout and seventh of the season. Griffin now has 75 saves this season, moving to No. 4 on Utah State’s single-season saves list. She lowered her season GAA to 0.84, closing in on the Aggies’ career GAA mark of 0.81. The wins against the Rainbow Wahine and the Wolf Pack helped secure a spot in the upcoming WAC Tournament for the Aggies.
Other offensive nominees included: Antonea Lugo, Fresno State; Karen Zmirak, Nevada and Dana Peart, Utah State.
Other defensive nominees included: Rochelle Jagdeo, Fresno State; Caitlin Holmes, Nevada and Kristin Krale, San Jose.
WAC IN THE NCAA ? The WAC boasts two teams that rank in the top 30 in three categories. Fresno State is 17th in goals against average (0.567). Nevada is 29th in goals against average at 0.653. Fresno State is ninth in the nation in shutout percentage at 0.71, while their 0.897 save percentage is sixth. Individually, Fresno State’s Angie Larsen is ninth in the NCAA in save percentage at 0.895. Larsen is also 21st in goals against average (.579).
UTAH STATE’S GRIFFIN EARNS TWO HONORS ? Utah State’s sophomore goalkeeper Ali Griffin was honored with a pair of honors for her performance this past week in leading the Utah State soccer team to two wins and a tie as the Aggies clinched a berth in the WAC Tournament. Griffin was acknowledged with WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors as well as being named to Top Drawer Soccer’s National Team of the Week after she posted two shutouts and allowed one goal for the week.
After yielding the lone goal of the week in Utah State’s 2-1 win at Hawai?i on Monday, Griffin blanked Nevada on Friday, posting a career-high nine saves as the Aggies dropped the Wolf Pack, 2-0. Griffin then posted her second shutout in a row and seventh of the season on Sunday as Utah State battled preseason WAC favorite Fresno State to a 0-0 (2OT) draw.
HAWAI?I’S FUKUROKU CLIMBING THE CHARTS ? Hawai?i sophomore Taryn Fukuroku is quickly becoming one of UH’s most prolific goal scorers, moving up to eight on the all-time list with nine career goals. She is also in the UH top 10 with 25 career points. Fukuroku’s multi-goal performance at San Diego made her the 14th player to accomplish the feat, joining Kelli-Anne Chang who scored two goals earlier this year versus Winthrop (Sept. 3). Fukuroku leads the WAC in shots per game (3.72) and shots (67). She is second in the WAC in points with 22 and tied for second in goals scored with eight.
AGGIES CONTINUE STRONG SEASON ? Utah State holds the longest conference regular-season unbeaten streak in the league, as the Aggies have not lost in their last seven WAC games, winning the last two of last season and going 3-0-2 so far this season. Utah State became the league-leader in OT matches with five after Sunday’s extra-time match. The Aggies have a 2-1-2 record in OT matches. Utah State owns the leagues best road record (4-1-0 overall, 2-0-0 in WAC) while Fresno State has the best home ledger (7-2 overall, 3-0 in WAC).
WOLF PACK NEAR RECORDS ? Nevada’s Karen Zmirak (23 points) needs just one more point this season to set a program record for most points in a season. Zmirak is first in the WAC in points per game (1.44 ppg). She is also first in the conference in goals per game, averaging 0.62 gpg. In WAC matches, she is tied for second in points with eight. As a team, Nevada needs just one more shutout this season to set a program high for shutouts in a season with eight.
LADY TECHSTERS SET SHOTS RECORD ? Louisiana Tech set a new WAC record with 68 shots against Prairie View A&M. The old record was held by UTEP with 61 against Youngstown State in 2000.
SOCCER FORMAT ? The WAC will continue its regular-season play as a single round-robin format for a total of seven 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 which is being held Nov. 2-3, 5 in Reno, Nev.
NCAA OPPONENTS ? Of the 92 non-conference matchups, 15 are against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year and five are at WAC home sites. Three teams in the WAC play at least three non-conference opponents that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year.
Pepperdine def. Idaho, 5-0
Cal State Fullerton def. Idaho, 4-0
Utah State def. Weber State, 1-0
Fresno State def. Florida, 1-0
Arizona def. Utah State, 3-0
Utah def. Fresno State, 2-0
Fresno State def. BYU, 1-0
Arizona def. Hawai?i, 1-0 (OT)
BYU def. Utah State, 1-0 (OT)
California def. Boise State, 2-1
Gonzaga def. Idaho, 3-0
UC Riverside def. Fresno State (2OT), 1-0
UC Riverside def. San Jose State, 2-1
Utah def. Utah State, 1-0
Santa Clara def. San Jose State, 6-0
COLLEGE CUP ? The 25th Annual Women’s College Cup will be held December 1 and 3, in Cary, N.C. Last season, the WAC had one team compete in postseason play with Fresno State falling in the first round to Santa Clara. The following is a list of sites and dates for the 2006 NCAA Tournament:
First/Second Rounds (16)
November 10 and 12, 2006
On campus sites TBD
Third Rounds (8)
November 17, 18 or 19, 2006
On campus sites TBD
Quarterfinals (4)
November 24, 25 or 26, 2006
On campus sites TBD
Women’s College Cup
December 1 and 3, 2006
Cary, N.C.
Host: North Carolina State
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.