TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
November 4 (Thursday)
Match 1: #3 Idaho vs. #6 Fresno State, 12:30 p.m.
Match 2: #4 Louisiana Tech vs. #5 Boise State, 3:00 p.m.
November 5 (Friday)
Match 3: #2 Utah State vs. Match 1 Winner, 12:30 p.m.
Match 4: #1 San Jose State vs. Match 2 Winner, 3:00 p.m.
November 7 (Sunday)
Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner, 1:00 p.m
WAC NOTES
UTAH STATE’S HANSEN NAMED WAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Lauren Hansenhas been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 25-31.
Hansen, a senior forward from Camano Island, Wash. (Stanwood HS), led Utah State to a 4-0 victory over Hawai‘i on Sunday, helping to secure the Aggies a share of the WAC regular season title. Hansen recorded Utah State’s first hat trick since 2007. She scored three goals with one assist in the final home match of the season. With her first goal, Hansen became the all-time Utah State leader in points scored. With her second goal of the match, Hansen became the all-time goal leader at USU. She tied the school record for points in a single match with seven.
Other offensive nominees included: Fresno State senior midfielder Bradlee DeShane … Louisiana Tech junior forward Rachel King.
UTAH STATE’S NORRIS NAMED WAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Natalie Norris has been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Defensive Players of the Week for the week of Oct. 25-31.
Norris, a sophomore defender from Sandy, Utah (Alta HS), anchored the Utah State defense to a 4-0 shutout victory over Hawai‘i in Utah State’s final regular-season match. The victory helped the Aggies earn a share of the WAC regular season title. Norris played all 90 minutes and helped the USU defense allow only nine shots and no goals.
Other defensive nominees included: Fresno State senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Revel.
2010 TOURNAMENT BRACKET SET
The 2010 WAC Soccer Tournament bracket has been finalized. San Jose State and Utah State received first round byes with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. Idaho earned the No. 3 seed, followed by Louisiana Tech with the No. 4 seed. Boise State holds the fifth seed and Fresno State the sixth seed.
WAC TO STREAM SOCCER TOURNAMENT FROM RUSTON
The Western Athletic Conference, in conjunction with its Web site partner NeuLion, has announced it will stream all of the matches of the 2010 WAC Soccer Tournament. Viewers can sign up by visiting www.WAC.tv. The soccer tournament will be held in Ruston, Louisiana, Nov. 4-5, 7, and will feature the top six teams in the WAC. Two first round matches will be played on Thursday, Nov. 4 with the winners moving on to face the top two seeds in the semifinals the next day. The championship will be played at 1:00 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, Nov. 7. All five matches can be seen on WAC.tv by accessing the soccer tournament package for a one-time price of $10.95. More information and how to subscribe to these video streaming events can be found at www.WAC.tv. State holds the fifth seed and Fresno State the sixth seed.
SAN JOSE STATE, UTAH STATE, CLAIM SHARE OF WAC REGULAR SEASON TITLE
With a 3-0 shutout over Boise State at home on senior night, San Jose State clinched a share of the 2010 WAC regular season title. It marks SJSU’s second-straight WAC regular season championship. It also marks SJSU head coach Jeff Leightman’s second WAC crown in his three years at the helm of the Spartan program. Utah State tied San Jose State atop the standings with an identical 5-2-1 record after defeating Hawai‘i 4-0 on Sunday. It is Utah State’s second WAC crown after also earning the honor with a perfect 7-0-0 regular-season record in 2008.
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (7-9-3, 4-2-2 WAC)
Boise State went 0-1-1 last week ... the team tied Fresno State at home, 2-2, in double overtime ... the Broncos then dropped a 3-0 decision at San Jose State to conclude regular season play ... Shannon Saxton and Kati Lucas each scored in the final seven minutes of regulation to help Boise State earn a 2-2 draw with Fresno State ... Boise State, the reigning WAC tournament champion, now heads to Ruston for the WAC tournament ... the Broncos will have the fifth seed at the event and will take on tournament-host Louisiana Tech on Thursday at 3 p.m. CT
Fresno State Bulldogs (7-8-4, 2-3-2 WAC)
The Bulldogs closed out the 2010 regular season with a 1-0-1 record on the road ... the ‘Dogs recorded an overtime win against Idaho and a double overtime tie against Boise State. Bradlee DeShane scored the game-winning goal to lift Fresno State past Idaho ... Laura Dodd added to her goal count against Boise State, while freshman Kayla Kret scored her first career goal against the Broncos ... senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Revel recorded nine saves, a shutout and a goals against average of 0.88 in 203:44 minutes ... the Bulldogs finished the season in sixth place and secured a spot in the 2010 WAC Tournament ... the tournament held in Ruston, La. is Nov. 4, 5 and 7.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine (3-14-3, 1-5-2 WAC)
Hawai‘i wrapped up regular season play last week, dropping both of its matches on the road ... UH dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 double-overtime loss to Nevada ... Brittani Lum’s successful conversion of a free kick in the 78th minute equalized the match, 1-1, for UH ... it was the second straight week that Lum scored off a free kick ... the Rainbow Wahine concluded the 2010 campaign with a 4-0 loss to Utah State ... the loss put an end to a disappointing season for the Rainbow Wahine, who showed signs of hope during league play, but ultimately tied the 1996 squad for most losses in season ... UH finished eighth and missed the WAC Tournament for the second straight year.
Idaho Vandals (14-6-0, 5-3-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-1 last week ... the Vandals opened play last week with a 2-1 victory at home to San Jose State ... Christina Boddie and Chelsea Small recorded goals to lead the Vandals to the win against San Jose State ... Idaho then wrapped up regular season play with a 1-0 overtime loss to Fresno State ... a first for Idaho this year is simply that the season continues ... the Vandals will travel to Ruston, La., this week to take part in the WAC Tournament for the first time in school history ... they’ll need to win three games in four days to break another barrier and earn the team’s first NCAA Tournament invite.
LA Tech Lady Techsters (15-5-0, 5-3-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech went 1-0 on the week with a 2-0 win at New Mexico State on Friday ... the win was Tech’s 15th of the season and fifth in the WAC, both school records ... in the match, the goals were scored by Rachel King, her 13th and Kiva Gresham, her 12th ... Tech is just one of five schools that have a pair of teammates who have each scored at least 10 goals ... King’s 13 goals broke her own school record of 12 set last season ... the Lady Techsters continue its best season ever at the WAC Tournament as a four seed on Thursday against Boise State.
Nevada Wolf Pack (7-9-3, 2-5-1 WAC)
Nevada closed out the season with a victory in the waning seconds against Hawai’i ... Ellie Stott put her second goal of both the game and the season in the net with 53 seconds remaining in the second overtime to earn three points for Nevada ... the win was a fitting end to the career of seven seniors for the Pack, who were honored in a ceremony before the contest began ... the 2010 graduating class had six members who were honored by the WAC in their careers.
New Mexico State Aggies (7-8-3, 1-6-1 WAC)
In the regular season finale, New Mexico State soccer fell to Louisiana Tech, 2-0, on senior night ... following the match the Aggies honored senior midfielders Baili Foutz and Nina Yanes, who played their final contest for the Crimson and White ... the Aggies concluded the 2010 season with a 7-8-3 overall record and 1-6-1 WAC record ... Louisiana Tech posted a 2-0 lead at halftime after goals in the 26th and 43rd minute ... he Aggies recorded a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal but couldn’t capitalize ... the Aggies will have 26 players returning to the squad next season after a successful second year.
San Jose State Spartans (11-7-1, 5-2-1 WAC)
San Jose State went 1-1 last week with a 2-1 loss at Idaho and a 3-0 victory at home to Boise State ... with the win over BSU, head coach Jeff Leightman, in just his third year in charge at San Jose State, has led an incredible turnaround, clinching the program’s second regular-season conference title, in back-to-back seasons ... in addition to its outright conference regular-season championship, the win over BSU earns San Jose State the top seed and a subsequent first-round bye at the WAC tournament ... the Spartans will take on the winner of the LA Tech/Boise State match on Friday at 3 p.m. CT
Utah State State Aggies (9-6-5, 5-2-1 WAC)
Utah State went 1-0 last week ... the team defeated Hawai‘i 4-0 to clinch a share of the WAC regular season title, the second regular season crown for the Aggies since joining up with the WAC ... Lauren Hansen led USU to the win over UH, recording a hat trick with three goals with one assist ... it marked Utah State’s first hat trick since 2007 ... Hansen became the all-time leader in points scored and the all-time goal leader ... Hansen ended the match with 37 goals and 84 points ... with her assist, she tied the school record for points in a game with seven.