THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
October 7 (Thursday)
Fresno State at Cal State Bakersfield, 7:00 p.m. PT
October 8 (Friday)
*Nevada at Utah State, 3:00 p.m. MT
*Louisiana Tech at Idaho, 3:00 p.m. PT
*New Mexico State at Boise State, 4:00 p.m. MT
*Hawai‘i at San Jose State, 7:00 p.m. PT
October 10 (Sunday)
Houston Baptist at Utah State, 1:00 p.m. MT
*Louisiana Tech at Boise State, 1:00 p.m. MT
*Hawai‘i at Fresno State, 1:00 p.m. PT
San Jose State at UC Davis, 1:00 p.m. PT
* WAC match
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (4-7-1, 1-0-0 WAC)
Boise State opened league play with a resounding 4-0 victory at Hawai’i, the Broncos first-ever win on the islands against the Rainbow Wahine ... Shannon Saxton led Boise State to the victory over Hawai’i with her second career hat-trick setting new school records for hat-tricks in a career (2), hat-tricks in a league match (1) and career goals with 32 ... she also extended her career points record to 83 ... joining Saxton in the scoring column was freshman Rebe Wolverton who scored her first career goal as a Bronco ... next up for Boise State, the Broncos return home to Boise for only their second and third home matches of the year when they host New Mexico State and La Tech.
Fresno State Bulldogs (4-6-1, 0-1-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs opened WAC play with a 2-1 overtime loss to San Jose State ... Nicole Duff scored her third goal of the season in the match ... the ‘Dogs registered 10 shots and five of which were on goal ... goalkeeper Kaitlyn Revel recorded six saves ... Claudia Cardenas, Lauren Lindstrom and Nicole Duff all had two shots each against the Spartans ... Fresno State hits the road on Thursday, Oct. 7 to face CSU Bakersfield and returns home Sunday, Oct. 10 to host Hawai’i.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine (2-10-1, 0-2-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 0-2-0 last week with a 4-0 setback to Boise State and a 3-1 loss to Idaho ... the first loss marked UH’s first-ever home loss to the Boise State in six meetings in Honolulu (4-1-1) and the worst margin of defeat in 12 all-time matches between the squads ... Idaho also got its first-ever win at Hawai‘i ... senior Lauren Ho scored in the 20th minute off an assist from Kaylee Kihara as the Rainbow Wahine ended a school-record scoring drought that lasted 6-plus matches and nearly 625 minutes ... next up for the Rainbow Wahine is three-match road trip which includes WAC matches at San Jose State (Oct. 8) and Fresno State (Oct. 10) and a non-conference tilt at Cal State Bakersfield (Oct. 12).
Idaho Vandals (10-3-0, 1-0-0 WAC)
Idaho beat Portland State on Tuesday to wrap up its best non-conference record in school history (9-3-0), then opened WAC play with a victory on Sunday at Hawai‘i – the team’s first-ever win over the Rainbow Wahine … With 10 wins so far this year, Idaho is one away from tying the single-season school record for victories … after the win over UH, Idaho has earned conference-opening victories in consecutive years for the first time in school history … Idaho has double-digit wins in a season for the second time in school history.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (11-3-0,1-1 WAC)
Louisiana Tech went 1-1 on the week with a 1-0 loss to Utah State and a 3-1 win over Nevada ... the loss to the Aggies broke an eight-game winning streak, the second-longest winning streak in school history ... the win over Nevada was Tech’s second-ever win over a WAC team ... the Lady Techsters are off to their best start ever in conference play ... Kiva Gresham had one goal and one assist in the win over Nevada ... with the assist, she surpassed her own single-season assist record of seven with now eight on the season ... Tech hits the road for a game at Idaho and Boise State this week.
Nevada Wolf Pack (6-5-2, 1-1-0 WAC)
Nevada went 1-1 last week to open WAC play ... the Wolf Pack defeated New Mexico State 2-1 in double overtime before dropping a 3-1 decision at Louisiana Tech ... in the win over NM State, the Pack was led by senior defender Erin Smith, who put home both Nevada goals ... she opened the scoring in the 84th minute, putting a shot inside the right post on a pass from Kesia Broome ... at LA Tech, Kori Disarufino scored the lone Pack goal in the 22nd minute ... the Pack will be home Friday, October 15 against the Idaho Vandals inside Mackay Stadium.
New Mexico State Aggies (6-4-2, 0-2-0 WAC)
The Aggies opened WAC play with a tough 2-1 double overtime loss at Nevada, Oct. 1 ... freshman forward/defender Kristen Powers scored her first WAC goal to tie the contest, 1-1, with five minutes remaining in regulation ... in the defensive struggle, redshirt freshman Mikaela Bitner grabbed a career-high 11 saves ... NM State then suffered a 3-0 decision to Utah State in the conference home opener, Oct. 3.
San Jose State Spartans (6-5-0, 1-0-0 WAC)
San Jose State opened WAC play this past week with a 2-1 overtime victory over Fresno State ... freshman Kayla Santacruz scored twice and sophomore Kelsey Lord grabbed a pair of assists in overtime win at Fresno State, 2-1 ... it marked the first time the Spartans have defeated Fresno State at home in Bulldog Stadium, previously going 0-5-1 ... San Jose State improves on their five-game unbeaten streak to 6-5 for the season ... San Jose State hosts Hawai‘i on Friday before stepping out of conference to play at UC Davis on Sunday.
Utah State State Aggies (5-4-4, 2-0-0 WAC)
The Aggies now return home for the first of four-straight home matches ... on Friday, Oct. 8, Utah State will host WAC-rival Nevada at 3 p.m. ... USU will then take on Houston Baptist in non-conference action on Sunday, Oct. 10 ... it is the second time that Utah State has started WAC play with a 2-0-0 record ... in 2008, the Aggies also won their first two matches ... in 2006, USU started league play 2-0-1 ... Lauren Hansen now has 30 career goals scored and is only two away from tying Brigid Turner (1999-2002) for second-place in the Aggie record book ... she is now five goals from Jayme Gordy (1997-2000) who holds the first place-slot with 35 goals.
WAC NOTES
IDAHO’S SMALL NAMED WAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Idaho’s Chelsea Small has been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Offensive Playersof the Week for the week of Sept. 27 – Oct. 3.
Small, a sophomore forward from Solana Beach, Calif. (Torrey Pines), scored four goals in leading Idaho to a 2-0 record over the weekend. In addition to scoring four total goals, Small also had the game-winners in both matches. Small scored two goals on eight total shots (two on goal) in a 3-2 victory over Portland State on Tuesday, and then added another multi-goal game on Sunday in a 3-1 win at Hawai‘i on four total shots (two on goal). With her game-winning goal on Sunday, Small helped the Vandals defeat UH for the first time in team history. She also broke the Idaho school record for single season game-winners and tied the career record (6) in the same category. Small’s five game-winners leads the WAC this season.
Other offensive nominees included: Boise State senior forward Shannon Saxton … Fresno State senior forward Nicole Duff … Louisiana Tech senior forward Kiva Gresham … San Jose State freshman midfielder Kayla Santacruz … Utah State junior forward Shantel Flanary.
UTAH STATE’S MERRILL NAMED WAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Molli Merrill has been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 27 – Oct. 3.
Merrill, a junior goalkeeper from Bountiful, Utah (Bountiful HS), doubled her shutout total this season with a pair of road shutouts against WAC opponents. Against Louisiana Tech, Merrill had one save to earn her third shutout of the season as the Aggies defeated the Lady Techsters 1-0. In Utah State’s 3-0 victory at New Mexico State, Merrill registered four saves. For the second time in six seasons, the Aggies now begin WAC play with a 2-0-0 record. The pair of shutouts also snapped a two-match losing streak for USU.
Other defensive nominees included: Boise State junior goalkeeper Liz Ruiz … Fresno State freshman defender Lauren Lindstrom … Idaho junior goalkeeper Liz Boyden … Louisiana Tech freshman goalkeeper Kaitlin Updyke.
WEEK SEVEN HIGHLIGHTS
A pair of individual performances highlighted week seven as WAC play opened up. Idaho’s Chelsea Small recorded four goals in two games and a pair of game winners as Idaho went 2-0 with wins over Portland State and Hawai‘i. Shannon Saxton was also impressive, scoring three goals in a single match for Boise State as the Broncos defeated Hawai‘i 4-0. Utah State opened up WAC play with a 2-0 record for the third time in its history with wins over Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State.
2010 NCAA TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
Excluding last year’s WAC representitive Boise State, WAC teams played in 11 matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Six of the matches were played at WAC home sites. WAC teams combined for a 2-6-3 record in thos matches.
Santa Clara def. San Jose State, 2-1, Aug. 22
Louisiana Tech def. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 3-1, Sept. 3
California def. Hawai‘i, 8-1, Sept. 5
New Mexico State tied Northern Arizona, 1-1 (2OT), Sept. 5
Utah State ties San Diego State, 1-1 (2OT), Sept. 5
San Diego State def. San Jose State, 2-1, Sept. 10
Washington State def. Hawai‘i, 3-0, Sept. 17
Louisiana Tech def. Murray State, 3-1, Sept. 17
Stanford def. Hawai‘i, 9-0, Sept. 23
UC Santa Barbara ties Fresno State, 0-0 (2OT), Sept. 24
BYU def. Utah State, 3-0, Sept. 25
COLLEGE CUP
The 29th Annual Women’s College Cup will be held Dec. 3 and 5, 2010, in Cary, N.C., at the WakeMed Soccer Park. Last season, the WAC had one team compete in postseason play with Boise State falling in the first round to UCLA. The following is a list of sites and dates for the 2010 NCAA Tournament:
First/Second Rounds (16)
November 12 and 14, 2010
On campus sites TBD
Third Rounds (8)
November 19, 20 or 21, 2010
On campus sites TBD
Quarterfinals (4)
November 26, 27, or 28, 2010
On campus sites TBD
Women’s College Cup
December 3 and 5, 2010
Host: N.C. State University
Cary, N.C.
WakeMed Soccer Park