THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
October 23 (Friday)
*New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech, 4:00 p.m. CT
*Boise State at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Idaho at San Jose State, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Nevada at Hawai‘i, 5:00 p.m. HT
October 25 (Sunday)
San Jose State at Cal State Bakersfield, 11:00 a.m. PT
*Idaho at Fresno State, 1:00 p.m. PT
*Utah State at Hawai‘i, 5:00 p.m. HT
*WAC match
All times local/subject to change
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (7-6-4, 2-3-0 WAC)
Boise State is coming off a road loss last weekend at Idaho by the score of 3-1 ... Boise State broke out on top in the 18th minute when Shannon Saxton scored her sixth goal of the season to break the school record for career points with 73 ... unfortunately, the Vandals responded with three unanswered goals to claim their first victory over the Broncos in six years ... heads to Fresno, Calif., to face the Fresno State Bulldogs in the final regular-season road game of the year this Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. (Mountain) ... the Broncos lone match of the week will be played at Fresno State’s Bulldog Stadium.
Fresno State Bulldogs (5-10-0, 3-2-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs went 1-1 last week with a 0-1 loss at Utah State before a 3-1 victory at Nevada ... the Bulldogs had three different players record goals last week, including Janna Sadowitz, Claudia Cardenas and Bradlee DeShane ... Kaitlyn Revel led the team in goal with six saves over the two matches ... this week, Fresno State hosts Boise State on Friday and Idaho on Sunday.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine (5-9-1, 1-3-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 1-1-0 with a victory at Louisiana Tech and an overtime loss at league leader New Mexico State ... three different players registered goals for the Rainbow Wahine, including Ambree Oko, Britta Bourne and Mari Punzal ... Ako and Kristyn Shapka were credited with assists last week ... Kanani Taaca played all 190 minutes in goal over the two games, recording 14 saves ... this week, Hawai‘i returns home to host Nevada on Friday and Utah State on Sunday.
Idaho Vandals (9-7-0, 2-3-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-0-0 last week with a 3-1 win at home against in-state rival Boise State ... the win secured Idaho’s first Governor’s Cup title since 1999 ... Chelsea Small scored a pair of goals in the victory, including the game winner ... the Vandal women will hit the road for the last time in the regular season this weekend for matches against San Jose State on Friday (7 p.m.) and Fresno State on Sunday (1 p.m.) ... Idaho is 9-7 overall and 2-3 in WAC play, tied in fifth place with Nevada and Boise State ... the Vandals can tie the school record for single-season wins with two victories this weekend.
LA Tech Lady Techsters (11-5-1, 0-5-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech broke the school record for most assists in a season with Scotti Culton’s pass to Kiva Gresham on Friday for the team’s 50th ... Tech has now broken four single-season school records (points, goals, assists,
wins) ... the Lady Techsters have lost five consecutive games for the first time since 2007 on Friday ... the team has been outscored 8-2 in conference play and is still looking for their first win ever in conference (0-27-6).
Nevada Wolf Pack (5-11-0, 2-3-0 WAC)
Natalie Ratnavira and Ellie Stott each recorded their third goal of the season this weekend … Ratnavira scored against San Jose State and Stott against Fresno State … they are tied for second on the team in goals behind Jill Erickson who has four … Ratnavira took a team high seven shots over the weekend followed by Stott with four … Nevada will play two of its last three games on the road starting at Hawai`i on Friday.
New Mexico State Aggies (9-5-1, 4-0-1 WAC)
New Mexico State won its fourth WAC match of the season when freshman midfielder Jazmin Cardoso sank a penalty kick with 35 seconds remaining in overtime for a 2-1 win over Hawai’i, Oct. 18 ... the Aggies outshot the Rainbow Wahine, 18-15 ... freshman forward Crystal Burns scored her first conference goal in the 82nd minute for the first score of the match ... in their fifth overtime match, the Aggies are now 3-2-1 this season.
San Jose State Spartans (8-4-3, 3-0-2 WAC)
San Jose State returns home to face Idaho on Friday night, October 23, before one final non-conference tilt for 2009, two days later at Cal State Bakersfield … the second-place Spartans remain on a school-record 11-match unbeaten run, with a 0.42 goals-against-average during this stretch … Emmy Belding tallied her team-leading seventh goal of 2009 to open the scoring at Utah State early in the second half … the result against the Aggies set another new program mark for the Spartans, now on a six-match unbeaten streak on the road … Roxy Kamal has provided a team-best 17 points on six goals and a team-leading five assists.
Utah State State Aggies (8-7-2, 3-1-1 WAC)
Utah State went 1-0-1 last week with a win over Fresno State and a tie against San Jose State ... the Aggies were led offensively by Lauren Hansen and Shantel Flanary, who each recorded a goal ... defensively, Chandra Salmon led Utah State, making several key tackles to help the Aggies record the shutout against Fresno State ... Salmon was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts ... this week, Utah State travels to play Hawai‘i on Sunday in the team’s lone match of the week.
WAC NOTES
IDAHO’S SMALL NAMED WAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Idaho’s Chelsea Small has been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 12-18.
Small, a freshman forward from Solana Beach, Calif. (Torrey Pines HS), helped the Vandals to a 1-0-0 record last week. Small scored the game-winning goal in Idaho’s 3-1 victory over Boise State. She then connected on an insurance goal to help secure the win for the Vandals. The two-goal performance marks her second multi-goal match of the year and gives her seven goals on the season. She is now just three points away from breaking the Idaho freshman record for single-season points. The win over Boise State also secured Idaho’s first Governor’s Cup title since 1999.
Other offensive nominees included: Boise State junior forward Shannon Saxton; Fresno State sophomore midfielder/forward Laura Dodd; Hawai‘i senior forward Ambree Ako; Nevada sophomore midfielder Natalie Ratnavira; New Mexico State freshman midfielder Jazmin Cardoso; San Jose State senior midfielder Hallsie Pacheco; and Utah State sophomore forward Shantel Flanary.
UTAH STATE’S SALMON GRAUL NAMED WAC DEFENSIVE PLAYERs OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Chandra Salmon has been named Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 12-18.
Salmon, a sophomore defender from Provo, Utah (Provo HS), anchored Utah State’s defense to a win over Fresno State and a tie against second place San Jose State. Salmon was part of the defensive core that kept Fresno State off the scoreboard, making several key tackles for Utah State’s third shutout of the season. The sophomore helped the USU defense give up just one goal in two matches.
Other defensive nominees included: Fresno State sophomore defender Kendall VanDine; Hawai‘i senior midfielder Kristyn Shapka; Idaho sophomore midfielder Desirae Hull; New Mexico State freshman defender Elise Nordin; and San Jose State junior goalkeeper Nina Butera.
WEEK NINE HIGHLIGHTS
First year program New Mexico State continues to sit atop the WAC standings with a 4-0-1 league mark. The Aggies defeated Hawai‘i 2-1 at home in overtime in the team’s lone match of the week. San Jose State went 1-0-1 with a win at Nevada and a tie at Utah State. Utah State also went 1-0-1 with a victory against Fresno State at home and the tie against SJSU. Fresno State and Hawai‘i each split a pair of matches last week, while Nevada, Louisiana Tech and Boise State each went winless.
SOCCER FORMAT
The WAC will continue its regular-season play as a single round-robin format for a total of eight conference matches. The points system is as follows: 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. 5-6 and 8 in Boise, Idaho.