ON TAP IN THE WAC ? Hawai?i continues its stay in Arizona, traveling north to Flagstaff for a match with NAU before heading home for the Outrigger Hotel and Resorts Soccer Shooout. Idaho makes its way to Los Angeles for a match with Cal State Northridge, then it is off to Pullman, Wash., for a match with the Cougars. San Jose State looks to build on its first win of the season, taking on Sacramento State and Notre Dame de Namur. Boise State travels to Reno, Nev., for the Nevada Tourament where it, along with Nevada, will take on UC Davis and Wyoming. Fresno State plays host to Portland State and Sacramento State. Louisiana Tech returns home for two matches, taking on Arkansas State and Southeastern Louisiana. Utah State’s lone match of the week is against in-state rival BYU.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK ? Boise State midfielder Nicole Tadman and Nevada goalkeeper Caitlin Holmes have been named the Western Athletic Conference women’s soccer offensive and defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Tadman, a junior from Lake Forest, Calif. (Drake), scored two goals last week, helping the Broncos to wins over Utah Valley State and Eastern Washington. She recorded the match-winning goal against Utah Valley State in Boise, then followed that up with the first Bronco goal in an overtime win at Eastern Washington.
Holmes, a freshman from Las Flores, Calif. (Tesoro), posted 11 saves over two matches, helping the Wolf Pack remain unbeaten. Holmes anchored a defense that allowed just two goals, defeating Washington State 2-1 and tying with Eastern Washington, 1-1. She earned 0.90 goals against average for the weekend and boasts a 0.42 GAA for the season.
Other offensive nominees included: Cortney Sobrero, Fresno State; Samantha Miller, Nevada; Jessica Scott, San Jose State and Sierra Smith, Utah State.
Other defensive nominees included: Melanie Bohnet, Boise State; Andrea Alires, Fresno State; Savanna Russo, Louisiana Tech; Jackie Zabek, San Jose State and Ali Griffin, Utah State.
BULLDOGS IN THE TOP 25 ? Fresno State remains in Soccer America’s top 25, coming in this week at No. 23. Despite a loss to Utah, the Bulldogs win over then No. 18 BYU kept them in the rankings. The Bulldogs used a 1-0 win over No. 18 Florida in Gainseville to enter the Soccer America poll at 22 a week ago. They also enter the Soccer Buzz top 30, coming at No. 27. They are ranked ninth in the west region rankings, their highest since 1999.
BULLDOGS KNOCK OFF NO. 18 BYU ? Fresno State took advantage of a strong early effort against BYU, as Cortney Sobrero scored her team-leading third goal of the year and Angie Larsen turned in her fifth shutout as the Bulldogs improved to 4-1-1 on the year. The loss was the first for BYU on the year. The Cougars outshot Fresno State 11-2 in the first half, but Fresno State was the team that made the shots count, as Sobrero charged on a ball that was mishandled by BYU goaltender Erica Woodbury and hit the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead and ultimately, the win.
NEVADA TOPS IN THE WAC ? Nevada continues to sit atop the WAC standings. The Wolf Pack, led by head coach Terri Patraw are 4-0-1 on the season and are in the midst of the progam’s best-ever start. Nevada, which ammassed only 14 wins in its first five seasons, have posted 15 in just 2005 and 2006.
HOT STARTS ? Boise State is off to its best start in program history with a 4-1 mark. The Broncos were 3-1 in 2004, before falling to 3-2. Nevada is in its best-ever start at 4-0-1, topping its 2-0-1 in 2005. Fresno State, at 4-1-1, has its best start in program history. The next best start coming in 2001, when the Bulldogs won at San Francisco and against Colorado, before dropping their next four games. In no other season has the team won even two straight to begin the year.
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 at Utah State, Sept. 16
Boise State at California, Sept. 22
Gonzaga at Idaho, Sept. 22
UC Riverside at Fresno State, Sept. 22
UC Riverside at San Jose State, Sept. 24
Utah State at Utah, Sept. 24
San Jose State at Santa Clara, Oct. 4
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, 2005
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.
Boise State Broncos (4-1, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State swept both matches last week defeating Utah Valley State 3-0, followed by a 4-3 overtime win at Eastern Washington ... the Broncos enter this week 4-1-0 overall ... they continue a five-match road swing over three weeks by heading to Reno this weekend to participate in the Nevada Wolf Pack’s Tournament facing UC Davis and Wyoming ... three Broncos recorded four points last week Katie Keller (2g), Nicole Tadman (2g), and Brennan Lau (1g, 2a) ... Keller leads Boise State with six points on three goals, while Lau is second with five points on one goal and three assists.
Fresno State Bulldogs (4-1-1, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State has its highest ranking in the Soccer Buzz regional rankings since 1999, coming in at No. 9 ... beginning its longest homestand of the year, Fresno State will play four straight games in Fresno ... the Bulldogs kick off the homestand with a match against Portland State and will play their second game of the weekend on Sunday when Sacramento State comes to town ... both schools are Big Sky conference members and will be the first opponents from that conference that the Bulldogs have faced this season ... the Bulldogs are currently 2-0-0 at home this season.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (3-2-1, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i’s lost on an overtime goal to Arizona ... it was the first goal UH has given up since its season-opening 1-0 loss to Washington ... the Rainbow Wahine had posted four straight shutouts entering the match and the goal ended a string of nearly 500 straight shutout minutes by Hawai?i ... it also marked just the second loss in UH’s last 20 overtime matches.
Idaho Vandals (0-6, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho looks to notch its first win of the season with three games this week ... the Vandals are on the road at Cal
State Northridge, then are home to take on Utah Valley State ... the Vandals then head over to Pullman, Wash., to match up with Washington State on Sunday ... this will be the fifth meeting between the Vandals and Northridge ... the Matadors currently lead the series between the former Big West Conference foes 3-1 ... this will be the first meeting between the Vandals and the Utah Valley State Wolverines.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Lady Techsters head home for a while after playing five of their first six matches away from Ruston ... Tech will begin a four-game home stand Friday night against Arkansas State ... on Sunday, Southeastern Louisiana makes its way to Ruston ... the Lady Techsters lead the WAC in shots (136), points (33) and goals (14).
Nevada Wolf Pack (4-0-1, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada continues its program-best start, remaining unbeaten at 4-0-1 ... the Wolf Pack rallied to a 1-1 draw against Eastern Washington in their second match of the weekend .. in their first match, the Pack defeated Washington State, 2-1 ... defense has anchored this Nevada team, ranking first in the WAC in goals allowed with just two, and goals against average at 0.32.
San Jose State Spartans (1-4-1, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State earned its first win of 2006 in its home opener on Friday, Sept. 8, against Idaho State in the first meeting between the teams ... the Spartans continue a season-long three-game homestand with non-conference contests against Sacramento State and Notre Dame de Namur this week.
Utah State State Aggies (2-4, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State lost its fourth in a row after opening 2-0 ... the Aggies faced pair of former Big West opponents for first time as non-conference opponents ... the Aggies are 2-6 vs. Long Beach State all-time and 2-3 vs. Cal State Northridge ... Utah State completed its regular-season neutral matches, going 0-4 and are now 9-8-1 all-time in neutral matches, losing five in row after winning its previous seven.