On tap in the wac- The second week of play begins in the Western Athletic Conference this Wednesday night when the preseason favorite, Hawai?i, opens its’ season against Long Beach State at the annual Ohana Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi tournament in Honolulu. Louisiana Tech will also begin its 2008 campaign with a match in Denton, Texas against North Texas on Friday, Aug. 29 and then follow with a match against Texas Woman’s University on Sunday, Aug. 31. Nevada is scheduled to play in the UNLV Rebel Classic in Las Vegas. The Wolf Pack open against UNLV on Friday and then take on Pacific University in a Sunday match-up. San Jose State will also play on Friday at UC Davis while Idaho hosts Gonzaga and Utah State travels to Eugene to take on Oregon. The Bulldogs, of Fresno State, go up against Cal State Bakersfield in a Friday night match-up before taking on Cal Poly on Sunday. Also on Sunday, Utah State travels to Corvallis to take on Oregon State while Boise State and San Jose State are at home against Weber State and Seattle University, respectively.
Players of the Week - Boise State swept the Western Athletic Conference Players of the Week honors as forward junior forward Andrea Huerta and junior goalkeeper Jennifer Burns became the first Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively for the 2008 season.
Huerta, a junior forward from Boise, Idaho (Centennial HS/Chico State), helped lead the Broncos to an undefeated first weekend of play when she tallied a team-best five points in two games. The junior recorded both game-winning goals and dished out an assist for a five point total over the two days in her first career appearance for Boise State. She scored the game-winner in the 14th minute against Northwest Nazarene in a 3-0 victory. She also had the decisive goal in the 18th minute versus Eastern Washington, helping the Broncos to a 4-0 win. In addition, all four of her shots taken over the weekend were on net.
Burns, also a Boise native (Capital HS) by way of Seattle University, recorded her first two shutouts of the season. She played all 180 minutes, stopping every shot that was placed on goal (3) in both matches. She became the second goalkeeper in Bronco history to begin the season with two shutouts and 0.00 goals against average.
Other offensive nominees included: Emmy Belding of San Jose State scored the Spartans’ lone goal over the weekend in her first Division I match against No. 17 California. She is the only player on the squad to record a shot on goal. She also leads the team in shot. Fresno State forward Nicole Gutierrez had the go-ahead goal in a match against UC Davis, she recorded seven shots on the weekend.
Other defensive nominees included: Kaitlyn Revel of Fresno State allowed only one goal on the road at San Francisco and had a total of 15 saves on the weekend. The sophomore goalkeeper had a nine-save game against UC Davis.
Only one- Despite starting the season 0-2, San Jose State was the only team in the nation to play back-to-back matches against top 25 opponents during the first week of soccer action.
Lucky number seven- Boise State out-scored its two opponents 7-0 and began this season with two shutouts, making it only the second time in the Broncos’ 11-year history the feat has been accomplished.
YOUNG GUNS- Nevada started three newcomers in the Pack’s 4-0 season-opening loss versus UC Santa Barbara, freshmen Natalie Ratnavira, Annabelle Allen and junior transfer Nikki McEachern.
Postseason Opponents- Following the season opener against Long Beach State, Hawai?i will host Denver on Monday, Sept. 1, at 4 p.m. Denver won the Sun Belt Conference last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Long Beach State won the Big West Conference regular season, but missed narrowly missed on making it to the NCAA Tournament.
DOUBLE TROUBLE- WAC teams played in two double-overtime matches in week one of play, losing both. Last season, WAC teams played in 14 double-overtime games in non-conference games, for a record of 1-5-8.
WORKING HARD- Fresno State goalkeeper Kaitlyn Revel was pressured into making 15 saves in two games over the past weekend. She allowed only one goal versus San Francisco.
HOME SWEET HOME- Hawai?i will look to continue its home unbeaten streak after sporting an 11-0-1 record at Waipoi Peninsula Soccer Stadium last season. The Rainbow Wahine begin the 2008 season with three home games.
Boise State Broncos (2-0, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State began a three-match homestand to open the season with a pair of shutout victories over Northwest Nazarene (3-0) on Friday and Eastern Washington (4-0) on Sunday. It is only the second time in Boise State’s 11-year history that the Broncos have opened with a pair of shutouts. Fourteen of Boise State’s 16 newcomers saw their career debuts over the weekend. Junior transfer Andrea Huerta led the team with five points over the weekend when she finished with two game-winning goals and an assist. Shannon Saxton (1g 2a) and Danielle Schwalbe (2g) followed with four points apiece. The Broncos will wrap up the homestand this Sunday, Aug. 31, when they play Weber State.
Fresno State Bulldogs (0-2, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs are coming off of a season where they lost eight seniors to graduation. They bring back a young but talented team that has four all-WAC award winners from the 2007 season. Nicole Gutierrez continued her dominance from the 2007 season when she lead the team in shots with seven during the first weekend of play. She also scored the go-ahead goal for Fresno State in the Bulldogs’ second game versus UC Davis. Elora Martinez also netted a goal in the home opener loss. The Bulldogs are at Cal State Bakersfield, Friday Aug. 29 and then return home to host Cal Poly on Sunday (Aug. 31).
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i is coming off of its most successful season in school history, when the Rainbow Wahine captured the WAC regular-season and tournament crowns. The WAC’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Ambree Ako, will lead the offense for Hawai’i. With a league-best five players on the Preseason All-WAC team, the Rainbow Wahine hope to continue their league dominance from the 2007 season. Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Tehane Higa will lead the defense. The Rainbow Wahine open their season at the OHANA Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi at Honolulu on Wednesday (Aug. 27) versus Long Beach State and then go on to host the University of Denver on Labor Day (Sept. 1).
Idaho Vandals (0-1, 0-0 WAC)
After dropping to 0-1 in a double-overtime match against Cal State Bakersfield, Idaho received firepower from defender Jennifer Eugenio when she tucked away a goal in the 90th minute to tie the game at one. The Vandals look to rebound against Gonzaga and echo their upset of the ?Zags in 2007. They also landed four of their seven total shots on goal. After Friday’s game, the Vandals then take a week off from playing until they host Seattle in the first game of the Governor’s Cup on Sept. 5.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech enters its fourth year of Western Athletic Conference play, still looking for its first-ever league victory. All 11 of the Lady Techsters’ 2007 goals return as Tech only lost two seniors from last year’s team. Freshmen were responsible for nine of Tech’s 11 goals in 2007. The Techsters will also have five seniors on this year’s squad, the highest number of four-year players in team history. Tech has seen most of its success against in-state schools, getting six of its 13 all-time wins over schools from Louisiana. The Lady Techsters will open their season in Denton, Texas when they play North Texas on Friday (Aug. 29) and then follow with a game against Texas Woman’s University on Sunday (Aug. 31), also in Denton.
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-1, 0-0 WAC)
The Wolf Pack is coming off of a 4-0 loss at the hands of UC Santa Barbara this past Friday (Aug. 22). Forward Natalie Ratnavira led the team in shots with three. Nevada now travels to Las Vegas for the UNLV Rebel Classic where it will face in-state rival, UNLV on Friday (Aug. 29). The Wolf Pack will then prepare to play Pacific on Sunday, also in Las Vegas for the second leg of the tournament. They will look to avenge their 0-2 showing in the tournament from the 2007 season. Nevada beat UNLV in a regular-season non-tournament match 3-0 in September of last season.
San Jose State Spartans (0-2, 0-0 WAC)
The Spartans may have had the most difficult first two games of any team in the nation. They were shutout by No. 22 Santa Clara and then were defeated, 3-1, in a hard-fought match against No. 17 California. Goalkepper Jordan Santos had her work cut out for her when faced 22 shots on target over the weekend. But the freshman stood up to the challenge by saving 16, for a .727 save percentage. San Jose State travels to UC Davis on Friday (Aug. 29) and then returns home to host Seattle on Sunday (Aug. 31). They were the only team in the nation to play back-to-back top 25 teams during the first week.
Utah State State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State was the only WAC team who came out of the weekend with both, a win and a loss. Despite out-shooting Idaho State, the Aggies lost a heartbreaker in Pocatello, Idaho in a double-overtime match when the Bengals scored in the 110th minute of play to make the score 2-1. However, the Aggies rebounded well when they ended the weekend on a high-note after a 2-1 victory over Seattle University. Lindsey Smart, Shantel Flanary and Erin Salmon all notched their first goals of the season over the weekend. Lauren Hansen led the Aggies in shots (10). They now travel to the State of Oregon to take on Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers on Friday and Sunday, respectively.