On tap in the wac- The eight Western Athletic Conference soccer teams will all be in action during the third week of play. Utah State starts things off when they host Texas State on Thursday, Sept. 4. On Friday, the Governor’s Cup in Moscow, Idaho gets going as Boise State plays Idaho State and Idaho hosts Seattle. Nevada heads to San Francisco to take on the Dons while Eastern Kentucky visits Fresno State in a Friday night game. Louisiana Tech will host its first home game of the season when Stephen F. Austin visits Ruston. The Utah State Aggies then host their second-consecutive home game when Northern Colorado visits Logan on Saturday, while Boise State and Idaho play Seattle and Idaho State, respectively, in the second day of action at the Governor’s Cup. Portland State makes a trip to Reno to face Nevada, while San Jose State heads to UC Riverside for an all-California match-up. Hawai’i rounds out the action for the WAC when the Rainbow Wahine face Drake in the New Mexico Classic in Albuquerque.
PLayers of the week- The Western Athletic Conference Players of the Week were announced Monday as Boise State’s Shannon Saxton took home Offensive Player of the Week honors and San Jose State’s Jordan-Michelle Santos was named Defensive Player of the Week.
Saxton, a sophomore out of Beaverton, Oregon (Beaverton HS), had a goal and an assist in a 2-2 tie at home against Weber State. The forward dished out her assist on the initial goal in the 16th minute and then proceeded to score the go-ahead goal in the 73rd minute. In all, Saxton took three shots in 90 minutes of play, placing two of them on goal. It is the fourth Player of the Week honor for Saxton in her short career.
Santos, a freshman goalkeeper from Cypress Hill, Calif. (Los Alamitos HS), recorded her first two shutouts of her collegiate career this weekend. On Friday (Aug. 29) against UC Davis, she played 110 minutes stopping eight shots on goal and securing a 0-0 tie with a key save in the 109th minute. She returned to the pitch on Sunday (Aug. 31) and in another 110 minute, double-overtime match, shutout Seattle University while recording five saves. She recorded 13 saves on the weekend and has kept opponents out of the net for the last 233:16. It is the first Player of the Week honor for Santos.
Other offensive nominees included: Louisiana Tech’s Olivia Lukasewich had a goal and an assist in two games for the Lady Techsters on the weekend. She had an assist in a 2-1 loss to North Texas and the insurance goal in a 2-0 win against Texas Woman’s University. Molly Nizzoli of Fresno State scored two goals in losses against CSU Bakersfield (2-1) and Cal Poly (2-1). Utah State’s Lauren Hansen finished the weekend with one goal and had three of her four shots on goal against Oregon and Oregon State.
Other defensive nominees included: Fresno State’s Kaitlyn Revel had 11 saves in two games while playing 135 minutes. Liz Ruiz of Boise State made her collegiate debut against Weber State making three saves in 110 minutes of play including a key stop in the first overtime to preserve the draw. Utah State’s Molli Merrill had three saves in two tough losses to Pac-10 teams, Oregon and Oregon State The freshman came in relief for starting goalkeeper Ali Griffin and did not allow a goal in her 90 minutes of work
CANCELLED- The scheduled game between Louisiana Tech and Delta State has been cancelled for the time being due to the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. A re-schedule date is possible but has yet to be released.
Road Warriors- After a 2-2 draw against Weber State in Boise, the Broncos will begin a stretch of nine-consecutive road games beginning this weekend in Moscow, Idaho.
220 STRONG- San Jose State played two consecutive 110 minute games last week, something that was not done by any WAC team last year.
tourny tested- Hawai?i will be competing in its second tournament this week, just one of a total of five the Rainbow Wahine play in this season, the most among WAC teams.
SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT- In its three games, Boise State is averaging just over 20 shots per game, the most of any WAC team and compared to its 12 shot per game average during the 2007 season.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (2-0-1, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State concluded a three-match homestand with a 2-2 draw against Weber State on Sunday, Aug. 31st. This week they will begin a stretch of nine consecutive road games when they travel to Moscow, Idaho for the sixth Governor’s Cup hosted by the University of Idaho. The Broncos will face instate rival Idaho State on Friday followed by a Sunday afternoon encounter with Seattle University. Boise State will not play at home again until it hosts WAC rival Louisiana Tech on Oct. 10th. Andrea Huerta (3g, 1a) and Shannon Saxton (2g, 3a) continue to lead the Broncos with seven points apiece.
Fresno State Bulldogs (0-4, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs’ young talent is starting to show after they got two goals from freshman Molly Nizzoli over the weekend. She is the leading goal scorer on the team and also has the most points for Fresno State. Fresno State is coming off two 2-1 losses to Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly. The Bulldogs host Eastern Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 5 in their only game of the week. The Bulldogs scored all four of their goals in the second half of matches this season. Senior Nicole Gutierrez ranks second in the WAC with three shots a game for a total of 12 shots on the season.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (0-2, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i started out with a very tough first two weeks when it hosted Long Beach State and Denver in the Ohana Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi in Honolulu. The Rainbow Wahine dropped both matches by one goal. Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Ambree Ako showed no let down as she finished the week with two of Hawai?i’s four goals. They now travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico to take on Drake on Sunday Sept. 7 and then will play New Mexico on the following Tuesday.
Idaho Vandals (0-2, 0-0 WAC)
The Vandals could not repeat the same upset of Gonzaga as they did in the 2007 season when they dropped a 3-1 match to the Bulldogs last Friday. Senior Nicole McAllister scored an unassisted goal for Idaho in 55th minute of play to put the Vandals on the board. Idaho will now host the Governor’s Cup tournament on Sept. 5, the three-day tournament will feature Seattle, Boise State and Idaho State. The Vandals finished with a 1-1 record in the 2007 Governor’s Cup, beating Southern Utah but falling to in-state rival Idaho State.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
The Lady Techsters are off to a 1-1 start after a close loss at North Texas on Friday night and a 2-0 victory at Texas Woman’s U. on Sunday. The Techsters scored three goals over the weekend, showing considerable improvement from the 2007 season when Tech did not notch its third goal until its seventh game of the year. Katlyn Bachan and Olivia Lukasewich scored their first career goals in Sunday’s win at TWU, and Kiva Gresham added the fifth of her career Friday night at UNT. Tech’s newcomers have been a big help thus far with nine freshmen getting their first taste of collegiate soccer over the weekend. Freshman keeper Cat Buchanan pitched a shutout in her first career start, making three saves against TWU. Tech was scheduled to travel to Cleveland, Miss., on Wednesday to face Delta State; however, due to the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, the game has been cancelled for the time being.
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-3, 0-0 WAC)
Samantha Miller scored her 14th career goal against UNLV on Friday. She has recorded 38 career points and is fourth all-time in career points and fourth all-time in career goals. Senior Sarah Hunt recorded a career-high seven saves against Pacific. Hunt has started and played in every minute of Nevada’s three games this season. Of the Pack’s three games this season, Nevada has played one home game, one away game and one neutral site game. Freshman Natalie Ratnavira is leading the team in shots with five while Samantha Miller is second on the team with four. Junior transfer Nikki McEachern has played all 270:00 minutes for the Pack this season. The Pack travel to San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 5 to take on the Dons.
San Jose State Spartans (0-2-2, 0-0 WAC)
The Spartans came out of the weekend securing two ties against UC Davis and Seattle, both ending in 0-0 draws. Freshman goalkeeper Jordan-Michelle Santos was named Defensive player of the week for the first time in her career when she had 220 minutes of shutout soccer, while making 13 saves for San Jose State. The Spartans now travel to Riverside, Calif. to take on UC Riverside on Sept. 7 and then have a week of rest before a home match against Sacramento State. SJSU ranks third in the WAC with a 1.35 GAA after the first two weeks.
Utah State State Aggies (1-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies lost two one-goal matches to Pac-10 foes, Oregon (1-0) and Oregon State (1-2). Sophomore Lauren Hansen scored the Aggies only goal in the match against Oregon State. Also, freshman Molli Merrill had an impressive showing in goal, coming off the bench to finish with a 0.00 goals against average in her 90 minutes of work on the weekend. Utah State returns to Logan for matches against Texas State on Sept. 4 and Northern Colorado on Sept. 6.
-WAC-