On tap IN THE WAC ? This week the WAC concludes non-conference action with teams in action five days this week. Boise State travels to Spokane to square off with Gonzaga, before returning home to host Northern Arizona in the Soccer Etc. Nike Classic. Fresno State hosts the Dons of San Francisco in its lone match of the week, while Hawai?i travels to Southern California in a pair of road matches against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine. Idaho will host its first-ever ranked opponent when No. 25/30 Washington State comes to Moscow, followed by the Eagles of Eastern Washington. Louisiana Tech will tango with cross-town rival Grambling State in a mid-week game on Oct. 2. Nevada travels to Boise to tango with the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona in the Soccer Etc. Nike Classic, while San Jose State hosts a pair of in-state foes, Saint Mary’s and UC Irvine. Utah State will take on No. 16/17 BYU in Provo before returning home to test another in-state rival, Utah.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ? Fresno State forward Nicole Gutierrez and Nevada goalkeeper Marie Cove have been named the Western Athletic Conference Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 1.
Gutierrez, a junior forward from Sacramento, Calif. (West Campus), led Fresno State to a 1-1 record in matches this weekend. She scored four goals, moving her total to six on the season, and leads the Bulldogs with 14 points. Gutierrez netted all three Bulldog goals and registered a hat trick in the 3-2 win over UTEP and added another goal in the 3-2 loss to in-state rival Cal-State Fullerton in Sunday’s match. Gutierrez is currently second in the WAC in both goals (6) and shots (29).
Cove, a native of Garden Grove, Calif. (Pacifica), earned her second career shutout in Sunday’s 3-0 route of in-state rival UNLV. With this shutout, Cove becomes the first true-freshman in program history to record multiple shutouts in a season over Division I opponents. She ended the weekend with nine saves and a 0.50 GAA, allowing just one goal in 180:00 minutes of play, helping lead the Wolf Pack to a 2-0 record over the weekend. Cove also put forth a solid performance in goal in Friday’s 4-1 win over UC Davis, marking the first time in program history that Nevada has recorded wins over both UNLV and UC Davis.
Other offensive nominees included: Shannon Saxton of Boise State registered the only Bronco goal in the 3-1 loss to Utah, tying the school record for goals in a season (11) ... Kelli-Anne Chang of Hawai’i posted three goals in two UH wins over Weber State and Hawaii Pacific, marking her second multi-goal performance of her Rainbow Wahine career... Anna Edmonds of Idaho notched one goal and one assist in two road losses, marking her fourth goal of the season and her first career assist ... Kiva Gresham of Louisiana Tech scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 over McNeese State, leading the Lady Techsters in both points (9) and goals (4) on the season ... Cristen Drummond of Nevada tallied five points on two goals and one assist, leading the Wolf Pack to back-to-back wins and the first wins in program history over both UNLV and UC Davis.
Other defensive nominees included: Mari Punzal of Hawai’i anchored the Rainbow Wahine backline and helped UH post back-to-back shutouts over Weber State and Hawaii Pacific, and was also a key element in the defense that did not allow a single shot versus Hawaii Pacific, marking a new school record ... Kelsey Manning of Idaho led the Vandals defense over the weekend, helping hold Oregon State to just nine shots on goal in the 2-1 double overtime loss to the Beavers ... Tara Gavlak of Louisiana Tech recorded her second consecutive shutout in the 1-0 win against McNeese State, and also registered the first assist by a goalkeeper in Tech history in the win ... Alyssa Lowry of Utah State anchored the Aggie defense in the 1-0 shutout of Montana, and also scored her first career goal and game-winning goal in the victory.
idaho hosts first-ever ranked opponent ? Idaho will host its first-ever ranked opponent when No. 25/30 Washington State comes to Moscow on Oct. 5. The Vandals are also in pursuit of their first-ever victory over a ranked opponent.
boise state’s saxton climbing the record books ? Boise State freshman forward Shannon Saxton netted her 11th goal of the season, tying the Bronco school record for goals in a season. Saxton also currently has 26 points on the season and is just two points away from tying the school record for points in a season.
Tech’s goalkeeper tallies rare assist ? Louisiana Tech’s sophomore goalkeeper Tara Gavlak registered the first assist by a goalie in Tech history, leading to Kiva Gresham’s game-winning goal in the 1-0 shutout win over cross-town rival McNeese State.
wac play up tour stops in Boise ? New for this year, the Play Up Tour will be present at a handful of selected volleyball and soccer games throughout the season. Join the WAC this Saturday, Oct. 6, to support the Bronco soccer team as they take on Northern Arizona at the Boas Soccer Complex, and pickup a free WAC t-shirt. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. M.T.
Boise State Broncos (4-4-1, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State looks to rebound from a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Utah Utes ... led offensively by Shannon Saxton who netted her 11th goal of the season, tying the Bronco school record for goals in a season ... Saxton also currently has 26 points on the season and is just two points away from tying the school record for points in a season ... Boise State currently ranks second in the WAC in points (67), goals (23) and assists (21), and looks to make a strong push to take the lead ... this week, the Broncos will travel to Spokane, Wash. for a mid-week match against the Bulldogs of Gonzaga, a team now ranked regionally in the West, and will then return home to host the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona in the Soccer Etc. Nike Classic.
Fresno State Bulldogs (4-5, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State continues its four-match homestand after splitting a pair of matches last week, defeating UTEP 3-2 and coming up short against Cal State Fullerton, 3-2 ... junior forward Nicole Gutierrez became the fourth player in Bulldog history to record a hat trick, notching three goals in the victory over UTEP on Sept. 28 ... Gutierrez was named WAC Offensive Player of the Week for her performance ... the Bulldogs currently lead the WAC in home attendance at matches, averaging 995 fans at each of their three home matches thus far ... Fresno State is 51-1 overall when scoring at least three goals in a match ... this week, the Bulldogs host the Dons of San Francisco in their only match of the week.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (7-2-1, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i heads back to the mainland after coming off a 1-0 victory over Weber State and a record-breaking 11-0 route of Hawaii Pacific, both at home ... among new match records set in the downing of Hawaii Pacific were goals (11), goals in a half (7), assists (11), points (33), shots (54), shots allowed (0) and corner kicks (18)... sophomore forward Vanessa Bailey scored the first three goals of her career, joining Natasha Kai and Veronica Flores as just the third player in program history to record a hat trick ... this week, the Rainbow Wahine head to Southern California for a pair of road matches at Loyola Marymount (6-3-1) and Pepperdine (2-4-3), looking to secure their first road win of the season.
Idaho Vandals (4-5, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho returns home to Moscow looking to bounce back from a pair of road losses, as Loyola Marymount downed the Vandals 3-1 and the Beavers of Oregon State pulled out a double-overtime heartbreaker, winning on a penalty kick, 2-1 ... Vandals were led by freshman Anna Edmonds who scored her fourth goal of the season against Oregon State and tallied her first career assist in the match against LMU ... in their 10th year of competition, the Vandals are in pursuit of their 50th win in program history, and have a chance to attain this feat this week as they currently sit at 48 total wins ... this week, the Vandals host No. 30 Washington State and the Eagles of Eastern Washington.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (2-7, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech recorded its second straight victory on Sept. 30, defeating in-state rival McNeese State 1-0 in Ruston ... this win marks the first time since 2005 that the Lady Techsters have won consecutive games ... freshman Kiva Gresham scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the win, vaulting her to fifth all-time on the Tech scoring charts ... sophomore goalkeeper Tara Gavlak recorded her second consecutive shutout in the win over McNeese State, and also registered the first assist by a goalkeeper in Tech history, leading to Gresham’s game-winning goal ... this week, the Lady Techsters square off against cross-town rival Grambling State to close out non-conference play.
Nevada Wolf Pack (3-5-1, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada returns to action after going undefeated last week, downing UC Davis 4-1 and shutting out in-state rival UNLV, 3-0 ... marks the first time in Pack program history to record wins over both UNLV and UC Davis ... Samantha Miller’s goal 59 seconds into the Pack’s game at UC Davis was the fastest goal scored to start a game in Nevada program history ... Marie Cove earned her second career shutout in Sunday’s 3-0 route of in-state rival UNLV, becoming the first true-freshman in program history to record multiple shutouts in a season over Division I opponents ... this week, the Wolf Pack travel to Boise to take on the Lumberjack of Northern Arizona in the Soccer Etc. Nike Classic.
San Jose State Spartans (1-7-2, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State looks to rebound from a pair of one-goal losses, a 1-0 double overtime defeat at the hands of the Titans of Cal State Fullerton and a 3-2 loss to the Eagles of Eastern Washington ... senior midfielder Nicole Irwin, the reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Year, tallied her first goal of the season and 15th of her career in the match against Eastern Washington ... as a team, the Spartans currently lead the WAC in saves (68), and individually, goalkeeper Nina Butera currently leads the WAC in both goals against average (1.11) and save percentage (.843) ... this week, the Spartans conclude a season-long four-match homestand, hosting area rival Saint Mary’s on Oct. 5 and UC Irvine on Oct. 7.
Utah State Aggies (4-6, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State returns to action after shutting out the Montana Grizzlies 1-0 ... junior goalkeeper Ali Griffin registered her third shutout of the season in the win, and currently stands in second all-time in career shutouts ... senior forward Dana Peart leads the Aggies with 11 points on five goals and one assist, along with two game-winning goals, and also currently leads the WAC in shots (38) , with 21 on goal ... this week, the Aggies travel to Provo to tango with No. 16 BYU, looking to knock off the Cougars for the first time, before returning home to Logan to host another in-state rival, the Utah Utes.
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