DENVER ? The 2006 women’s soccer all-WAC teams were announced today, as selected by the conference’s coaches. WAC regular season champion, Fresno State, placed five on the conference’s first team. The 2006 Offensive Player of the Year went to San Jose State midfielder, Nicole Irwin. It was the first Player of the Year honor of any kind for San Jose State since Stacie Savage won the Pacific Division Player of the Year honor in 1996. Senior defender, Rochelle Jagdeo of Fresno State, was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season. This is the second season for both an offensive and defensive Player of the Year. Freshman of the Year was awarded to Utah State defender Lindsey Smart, while Coach of the Year went to Fresno State’s Steve Springthorpe, who went 6-0-1 in conference play without allowing a goal.
Irwin, a native of Dublin, Calif., earned her first Player of the Year honor, scoring seven goals in seven WAC matches. Including her three assists, she tallied 17 points in conference matches. Irwin leads the WAC in points (17), points per game (2.43) and game-winning goals (3). She is also tied for the WAC lead in assists with three.
Jagdeo, a native of Vacaville, Calif., lived up to her preseason billing, anchoring a defense that did not allow a goal in WAC play. The Bulldogs became the first WAC team to not allow a goal in WAC play. Fresno State won its first WAC regular season title since 1999. Jagdeo, who played in all seven WAC matches this season, helped goalkeeper Angie Larsen to a WAC-best 0.00 goals against average. The Bulldogs posted seven shutouts in WAC play.
Smart, a native of Sandy, Utah, led the Aggies to a 5-0-2 conference record and a second-seed in the WAC Tournament. The freshman helped goalkeeper Ali Griffin record four shutouts. Smart and the Aggie defense only allowed three goals in its seven conference matches.
Springthorpe, who is in his third season as the head coach at Fresno State, won his first WAC regular season title with a 6-0-1 WAC record. The Bulldogs are the defending WAC Tournament champions. Behind a stellar defense, the Bulldogs did not allow a goal in WAC play and have allowed only 10 goals in 19 matches this season. Behind the offensive punch of senior Courtney Sobero and the defensive power of Rochelle Jagdeo, the Bulldogs earned the top seed in the WAC Tournament.
Fresno State led all teams with five student-athletes on the all-WAC first team and one on the second. Fresno State forward Cortney Sobrero earned her third first-team all-WAC honor. Sobrero joins Taryn Fukuroku of Hawai?i, Samantha Miller of Nevada and Charity Weston of Utah State as the league’s top forwards. San Jose State’s Nicole Irwin leads the midfield corps, setting up one of the WAC’s top offenses. Joining Irwin are Fresno State’s Alison Sill and Antonea Lugo. There are three defenders on the first team, including Rochelle Jagdeo, who follows up her Defensive Player of the Year honor with a first-team selection. Nevada’s Jessica Wilcox and Boise State’s Allison Tschida round out the first-team defenders. The first-team goalkeeper belongs to Fresno State Angie Larsen who posted a 0.00 goals against average in 2006.
The WAC Tournament begins Thursday, Nov. 2, with four teams playing in the quarterfinal round at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nev. Fourth-seeded San Jose State takes on fifth-seeded Boise State at 3:00 p.m. (PT), while third-seeded Nevada and sixth-seeded Hawai?i face off at 5:00 p.m. The winners advance to the semifinals to play top-seeded Fresno State and second-seeded Utah State, respectively, on Nov. 3. The championship match is set for 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 5.
The complete list of the all-WAC teams follows:
First Team
F Taryn Fukuroku, So., Hawai?i
F Samanatha Miller, So., Nevada
F Cortney Sobrero, Sr., Fresno State
F Charity Weston, Sr., Utah State
MF Nicole Irwin, Jr., San Jose State
MF Alison Sill, So., Fresno State
MF Antonea Lugo, Sr., Fresno State
D Rochelle Jagdeo, Sr., Fresno State
D Allison Tsuchida, Jr., Boise State
D Jessica Wilcox, Jr., Nevada
GK Angie Larsen, Sr., Fresno State
Second Team
F Nicole Gutierrez, So., Fresno State
F Karen Zmirak, So., Nevada
F Jessica Scott, So., San Jose State
MF Jessica Domingo, Jr., Hawai?i
MF Miranda Montejo, So., Nevada
MF Cristin Murphy, Sr., San Jose State
MF Dana Peart, Jr., Utah State
D Koren Takeyama, Jr., Hawai?i
D Randee Robinson, So., Nevada
D Lindsey Smart, Fr., Utah State
GK Marissa Dayton, Fr., San Jose State
Offensive Player of the Year: Nicole Irwin, Jr., MF, San Jose State
Defensive Player of the Year: Rochelle Jagdeo, Sr., D, Fresno State
Freshman of the Year: Lindsey Smart, D, Utah State
Coach of the Year: Steve Springthorpe, Fresno State