WEEK EIGHT RECAP
Parity is the word in the WAC, as after just two weeks of conference play, every team in the WAC has grabbed at least one win, and only Fresno State remains unbeaten. Fresno State went on the road to defeat San Jose State 1-0, the lone game of the week for the Bulldogs. The Spartans picked up a non-conference win earlier in the week, blanking Dominican (Calif.) 3-0.
Utah State returned home for its first home matches in almost a month, and the Aggies remained undefeated in Logan with victories over New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech. Idaho's first conference victory came at the expense of Hawai'i. The loss was the first in conference for the Rainbow Wahine., who also dropped a non-conference match at Seattle. Nevada defeated Louisiana Tech 3-2 in overtime on Friday, before falling in overtime, 2-1, to New Mexico State on Saturday.
FRESNO STATE, UTAH STATE REGIONALLY-RANKED
Fresno State remained in the NSCAA/Adidas West Regional rankings, moving up to No. 7. The Bulldogs are currently on a seven-game unbeaten streak after defeating San Jose State this weekend.
Utah State, who was ranked for five weeks earlier this season, returned to claim the No. 9 spot on the strength of two conference wins.
NCAA Rankings Regional Women West Division I
8th Poll - October 11, 2011
1 Pepperdine 10-0-4
2 Santa Clara 8-1-4
3 Long Beach State 10-3-1
4 UC Irvine 9-3-2
5 BYU 7-4-2
6 St. Mary's (Calif.) 9-3-2
7 Fresno State 8-3-3
8 Cal Poly 8-6-1
9 Utah State 10-4-1
10 Cal State Fullerton 6-6-2
STREAKY
Fresno State is in the midst of a seven-game unbeaten streak, the third different WAC team to have an unbeaten streak of at least six games. The Bulldogs haven't lost a match since they fell on the road to No. 4 UCLA. The streak features six wins and a tie against Pepperdine, the No. 1 team in the West Region. New Mexico State reeled off a seven-game streak earlier this season, and Utah State had an eight-game streak to begin the season.
HOME COOKING
So far this season WAC teams are 10-1 at home in conference games, with Fresno State's victory at San Jose State serving as the exception. This continues a trend from non-conference play.
Every WAC team, except for Nevada, is at least .500 on home soil, and several teams have been dominant. Utah State (7-0-0), Louisiana Tech (4-0-1) and Fresno State (3-0-1) are unbeaten at home, while New Mexico State (6-1-0) has just one home blemish on the year.
CLEAN SHEETS
Scoring on the Louisiana Tech women's soccer team has been next to impossible this season, as the Lady Techsters have shut out opponents in 10 matches this season. Keeper Caitlin Updyke has been credited with eight of the clean sheets, exceeding her career high in only 16 matches on the season. Updyke was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week from Sept. 25-Oct. 2, on the strength of her 1-0 shutout of New Mexico State.
The Lady Techsters aren't the only WAC team to bore scoreboard operators, as New Mexico State and Fresno State have six shutouts, and Utah State has four.
TEAM-BY-TEAM RECAPS
Fresno State Bulldogs (8-3-3, 2-0-0 WAC)
Fresno State extend its unbeaten streak to seven-games after a 1-0 victory over San Jose State on Saturday ... the road victory over the Spartans was the first road victory in conference play by a WAC team this season ... the Bulldogs are the only undefeated team in conference play ... freshman forward Callie Hancock has scored the last four goals for Fresno State ... she scored a hat trick vs. CSU Bakersfield on Oct. 2 and scored the game winner vs. SJSU ... freshman goalkeeper Katie DeVault is ranked nationally in total saves (17th), save percentage (59th) and goals-against-average (149th) ... she leads the WAC in saves (75) and saves per game (6.25) ... the shutout vs. SJSU was the Bulldogs seventh of the season ... this week, Fresno State plays at WAC co-leader Hawai'i on Friday night.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (3-9-0, 2-1-0 WAC)
Hawai'i lost two matches this week, falling at conference foe Idaho (4-2) on Friday night and in non-conference play at Seattle (3-0) on Sunday ... the Rainbow Wahine are winless this season away from home (0-7-0), but have won three-straight home matches ... UH leads the conference in four offensive categories during WAC play; points (22), goals scored (9), points per game (7.33) and goals per game (3.0) ... senior defender Brittani Lum is tied for first in the WAC with two game-winning goals during conference play ... junior midfielder Rachel Domingo is tied for first in the WAC with two assists during league play ... this week, Hawai'i hosts conference co-leader Fresno State on Friday and San Jose State on Sunday ... these will be the final home games for Hawai'i this season.
Idaho Vandals (5-8-2, 1-2-0 WAC)
Idaho picked up its first conference win of the season, defeating Hawai'i 4-2 on Friday night ... the Vandals had scores from four different players, and five assists from four different players in the match ... it was the team's 15th consecutive victory when scoring at least two goals ... junior forward Chelsea Small became Idaho's all-time scoring leader in the match, as her assist of the opening goal gave her 67 career points ... Small also moved into third all-time in WAC history with her 292nd shot attempt on Friday (she already holds the Idaho career shots record) ... junior midfielder Jill Flockhart assisted on two goals in the second half, including the game-winner against Hawaii on Friday ... the assists give her a team-best five this season ... this week, the Vandals travel to New Mexico State on Friday and Louisiana Tech on Sunday.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (8-4-4, 1-2-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech lost two road matches in league play ... the Lady Techsters fell 3-2 in overtime at Nevada on Friday and 3-1 at Utah State on Sunday ... following her assist against Nevada, senior defender Scotti Culton became the school's all-time leader in assist with 21 ... Culton is now fifth on the program's all-time goals list after her goal against Utah State... her converted penalty kick was the third of her career and is tied for the most in school history ... the loss to Nevada was the sixth overtime game this season for LTU, which is tied for the most in a season in Tech history (2008 also played six) ... junior midfielder Mo Rockwell goal's at Nevada was her seventh of her career, tying her for ninth all-time in school history ... this week, the Lady Techsters have just one match, playing host to Idaho on Sunday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (3-12-0, 1-2-0 WAC)
Nevada went 1-1 on the weekend, coming from behind to defeat Louisiana Tech 3-2 in overtime on Friday and then falling 2-1 in overtime to New Mexico State on Sunday ... freshman midfielder Chrisalyn Fonte scored the first two goals of her career with the Wolf Pack in the win against Louisiana Tech on Friday, including the game winner ... the Wolf Pack fell behind 2-0 to LTU, before scoring two second-half goals, just five minutes apart, to rally ... junior goalkeeper Dana Moreno earned her second win of the season against the Lady Techsters and started in goal twice for Nevada this weekend. ... this week, Nevada plays just one match, hosting conference co-leader Utah State on Sunday.
New Mexico State Aggies (8-6-1, 1-2-0 WAC)
The New Mexico State soccer team went 1-1 on the weekend ... NMSU lost 2-0 to Utah State on Friday, then defeated Nevada 2-1 on Sunday in overtime, for its first WAC victory of 2011 ... the win came in the Aggies second overtime match of the season ... junior forward Yolanda McMillion scored the game-winning goal in the 97th minute, securing the Aggies' first-ever win over Nevada ... it was her fourth score on the season and second game-winning goal ... she added a score on a corner kick from freshman midfielder Amber Harrington earlier in the contest ... senior forward Cassandra Branch gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute with a breakaway goal ... this week, the Aggies play just one match, hosting Idaho on Friday.
San Jose State Spartans (3-10-0, 1-1-0 WAC)
San Jose State went 1-1, defeating Dominican (Calif.) 3-0 on Tuesday and falling 1-0 to WAC co-leader Fresno State on Saturday ... five of the San Jose State's 10 losses have been by one goal ... junior forward Kelsey Lord (17 career assists) is one assist away from setting the career mark at San Jose State ... Lord scored the game-winner and contributed assists on two other SJSU goals Tuesday in the win over Dominican ... senior goalkeeper Meghan Maiwald has lowered her GAA in three straight games, from 2.17 to a current 1.87 ... this is the first time in team history SJSU has begun its WAC schedule with three straight one-match weeks ... this week, the Spartans travel to face conference co-leader Hawai'i on Sunday.
Utah State Aggies (10-4-1, 2-1-0 WAC)
Utah State swept two home matches on the weekend, defeating New Mexico State 2-0 on Friday and Louisiana Tech 3-1 on Sunday ... senior goalkeeper Molli Merrill registered her fifth shutout of the season against New Mexico State ... she also played 69 minutes in the Aggies' 3-1 win against Louisiana Tech, allowing no goals, lowering her WAC GAA to 0.68 ... sophomore midfielder Kendra Pemberton ended the week with three goals, an assist and two game-winning goals ... Pemberton and Merrill each earned WAC Player of the Week honors for their efforts ... the Aggies have now won at least 10 matches in six of the last nine seasons ... the school record for wins in a season is 13, set in 2008 ... with the win, the Aggies improve to 7-0-0 this season at home, the best start in school history ... this week, the Aggies go back out on the road, travelling to Nevada on Sunday.