WEEK NINE RECAP
Hawai'i defeated Fresno State 3-0 Friday night in a battle of first-place teams and tied San Jose St. 1-1 on Sunday. Those two results allowed the Rainbow Wahine to stay in first place, one point clear of Utah State, who picked up a road win over Nevada on Sunday. Hawai'i has played one more match than the Aggies, but also holds the tiebreaker with a head-to-head victory.
Idaho took an impressive jump in the standings, jumping up to third in the conference with two positive road results. The Vandals tied New Mexico State 1-1 on Friday and defeated Louisiana Tech 1-0 on Sunday.
WIDE OPEN RACE
With every team in the WAC having secured at least one win in conference play, no team has run away from the pack, or been left in the dust. With just two weeks left in the regular season, every team, with some breaks, could still claim first place. Likewise, every team could still be one of the two squads left out of the conference tournament.
NEW LEADERSHIP
With conference leader Hawai'i off all weekend, the WAC will at least have a new co-leader following Friday night's match in Moscow, as second-place Utah State takes on third-place Idaho. The Aggies would take sole possession of first place with a win or move into a tie for first with a draw, while the Vandals will move into a tie atop the standings with a victory.
Based on how the Utah State-Idaho match shakes out, Fresno State, New Mexico State and San Jose State all may be able to claim at least a share of first place with two victories this weekend.
UTAH STATE REGIONALLY-RANKED
Utah State remained in the NSCAA/Adidas West Regional rankings, moving to No. 8, up one spot from last week. Utah State has been regionally ranked for seven-of-nine weeks this season.
Fresno State, which saw its seven-game unbeaten streak end in a 3-0 defeat to conference-leader Hawai'i on Friday night, fell from the rankings, after checking in at No. 7 last week.
NCAA Rankings Regional Women West Division I
8th Poll - October 11, 2011
1 Pepperdine 11-0-4
2 Santa Clara 9-1-5
3 UC Irvine 11-3-2
4 BYU 8-4-3
5 Long Beach State 10-5-1
6 San Diego 7-7-0
7 Loyola Marymount 7-6-2
8 Utah State 11-4-1
9 Cal State Fullerton 7-7-1
10 St. Mary's (Calif.) 9-5-2
ROAD WARRIORS
After WAC teams started the season 10-1 at home in conference games, this weekend saw that trend flipped on it's head, as road teams picked up four results in five matches. Idaho became the first team to gain points in multiple road contests, grabbing a tie at New Mexico State and a victory at Louisiana Tech. Utah State grabbed a victory at Nevada and San Jose State managed a tie at Hawai'i.
The Rainbow Wahine were the only home team to hold serve, defeating Fresno State to finish the conference portion of the season undefeated at home. Fresno State, New Mexico State, Idaho and Utah State are also undefeated at home in conference play so far this season.
For the regular season, every WAC team, except for Nevada, is at least .500 on home soil. Several teams have been especially dominant, as Utah State (7-0-0) and Fresno State (3-0-1) are unbeaten at home, while New Mexico State (6-1-0) and Louisiana Tech (4-1-1) have just one home blemish on the year.
TEAM-BY-TEAM UPDATES
Fresno State Bulldogs (8-4-3, 2-1-0 WAC)
Fresno State fell on the road to conference leader Hawai'i 3-0 on Friday ... the loss ended the Bulldogs seven-game unbeaten streak ... the Bulldogs currently sit in fourth place in the WAC, but have played two less matches than first-place Hawai'i and one match less than second-place Utah State ... senior defender Kendall VanDine was named to College Soccer360.com Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll for her performance in week eight of the season ... she has played a full 1,416 minutes this season, and 7,176 minutes at Fresno State in her career, starting 27 straight matches, 77 in her career ... this week, Fresno State hosts two matches ... the Bulldogs take on Louisiana Tech on Friday and New Mexico State on Sunday.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (4-10-1, 3-1-1 WAC)
Hawai'i claimed sole possession of first place in the WAC with a 3-0 victory over Fresno State on Friday and remained alone in the top spot following a 1-1 tie with San Jose State on Sunday ... junior goalkeeper Kanani Taaca recorded four saves en route to her second shutout of the season in the victory over Fresno State ... Taaca posted four saves to help secure a 1-1 tie against San Jose State ... for her efforts, she was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week ... sophomore midfielder Crystal Fresquez scored her first career goal and added an assist vs. Fresno ... the Rainbow Wahine finished the home portion of the WAC schedule undefeated, going 3-0-1 ... Hawai'i is off this week, returning to action October 28th at New Mexico State.
Idaho Vandals (6-8-3, 2-2-1 WAC)
Idaho took sole possession of third place in the WAC on the strength of two road results, a 1-1 draw with New Mexico State on Friday and 1-0 defeat of Louisiana Tech on Sunday ... junior forward Chelsea Small connected on a free kick to give Idaho a 1-0 lead at NMSU, then scored a header in the seventh minute on Sunday at LA Tech ... for her career, Small now has 30 goals, 12 of which have been game-winners, both of which are Idaho records ... defender Christine Leathem helped Idaho post its second shutout of the year vs. LTU ... she also led an Idaho back line that limited LTU to just one shot attempt after Idaho's starting goalkeeper earned a red card and the team was forced to use an emergency keeper (a freshman forward) for the final 21 minutes ... this week, Idaho hosts second-place Utah State on Friday and Nevada on Sunday.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (8-5-4, 1-2-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech fell 1-0 to Idaho on Sunday, the only match of the week for the Lady Techsters ... the loss to Idaho was the first at home this season ... sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Updyke needs five saves to move into second on all-times saves list ... senior defender Olivia Lukasewich played in her 78th career game, the most in school history... Lukasewich has played in every game in collegiate care ... senior defender Scotti Culton started her 69th game of her career ... Louisiana Tech has allowed the fewest goals in the WAC this season, just 12 in 17 matches played ... of the Lady Techsters 17 matches, 13 have been decided by one goal or ended in a tie ... LTU has scored multiple goals only five times this season ... this week, the Lady Techsters travel to Fresno State on Friday and to San Jose State on Sunday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (3-13-0, 1-3-0 WAC)
Nevada lost its only match of the weekend, falling 2-0 to Utah State ... Utah State, the second-place team in the WAC, and Nevada played evenly for the first 79 minutes of the match, before the Aggies pulled ahead ... senior goalkeeper Dana Moreno made seven saves in the contest ... Moreno is tied for third in the conference in saves made during WAC contests, with 17 in four matches ... freshman forward Chrisalyn Fonte is tied for third in the WAC with two goals scored in conference play .... Fonte's four points in conference play are tied for fourth most in the conference ... this week, the Wolf Pack have just one match, as they host third-place Idaho on Sunday.
New Mexico State Aggies (8-6-2, 1-2-1 WAC)
The New Mexico State settled for a 1-1 draw with Idaho on Friday night in its only match of the week ... vs. Idaho, the Aggies equalized in the 86th minute when freshman forward Layla Todd drew both a Vandal defender and goalkeeper away from the net before finding senior forward Yolanda McMillion for to knot the match 1-1 ... the score was McMillion's fifth of the season, which ties for the team high ... Todd recorded her second assist of the year ... this was the second consecutive overtime match for the Aggies, and third overtime contest of the season ... the draw with Idaho was the first tie recorded in conference play this season ... this week, the Aggies travel for two matches ... NMSU is at San Jose State on Friday and at Fresno State on Sunday.
San Jose State Spartans (3-10-1, 1-1-1 WAC)
San Jose State tied Hawai'i 1-1, the only match of the week for the Spartans ... by earning the point, San Jose State became the only WAC team to earn a point at Hawai'i this season ... the draw was also the Spartans first road point of the season ... SJSU has not allowed more than one goal in a match during the entire month of October ... senior goalkeeper Meghan Maiwald made six saves in 110 minutes of play Sunday at Hawaii, including a stop in the 108th minute to preserve the tie for the Spartans ... she lowered her GAA for the fourth straight game, down to 1.78 for the season ... this week, the Spartans host New Mexico State on Friday night ... the Spartans will then celebrate Senior Day on Sunday against Louisiana Tech.
Utah State Aggies (11-4-1, 3-1-0 WAC)
Utah State defeated Nevada 2-0 on the road Sunday, the only match of the week for the Aggies ... the Aggies have now won at least 10 matches in six of the last nine seasons ... Utah State is now just two wins away from tying the school record for wins in a season when the 2008 squad went 13-8-1 ... sophomore midfielder Kendra Pemberton has scored nine points in the last three matches for Utah State ... for the season, she now has five goals and seven assists for 17 points, 10 of which were scored in conference matches ... junior defender Natalie Norris scored her second game-winning goal of the season in the 79th minute with a header off of corner kick ... this week, Utah State travels to face second-place Idaho ... with first-place Hawai'i on a bye this weekend, the Aggies would take sole possesion of first place in the WAC with a win, while a draw would move USU into a tie for first with the Rainbow Wahine.