THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
August 19 (Friday)
^Fresno State at Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m.
%Washington State at Hawai'i, 7:00 p.m.
#Idaho vs UC Santa Barbara, 6:00 p.m.
South Alabama at Louisiana Tech, 4:00 p.m.
Nevada at Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
New Mexico State at UTEP, 7:00 p.m.
Santa Clara at San Jose State, 7:00 p.m.
@Utah State at. Weber State, 4:30 p.m.
August 22 (Sunday)
^Fresno State vs UTSA, 11:00 a.m.
#Idaho vs UC Riverside, 10:30 a.m.
Louisiana Tech at Southern Miss, 1:00 p.m.
*Nevada vs. Penn State, 11:00 a.m.
New Mexico State at Texas Tech, 7:00 p.m.
Portland State at Utah State, 1:00 p.m.
^Texas A&M Tournament (College Station, Texas)
% Hawai'i Time
# UNLV Rebel Classic (Las Vegas)
*Game played in Saratoga, Calif.
@ Game played in Sandy, Utah
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs
In 2010, Fresno State made its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history ... The Bulldogs had two players earn All-WAC honors and 10 earned Academic All-WAC honors in 2010 ... Fresno State played in its sixth-consecutive WAC Tournament last season and claimed the program's third WAC Tournament title ... The Bulldogs return Lauren Lindstrom and Vanessa Gonzalez who were named to the 2010 WAC All-Tournament team ... The Bulldogs have won three WAC Tournament Championships and a WAC League Championship in the last five seasons ... Seniors Kendall VanDine and Molly Nizzoli return as the top players for the Bulldogs and together recorded 41 shots, two goals and four assists last season ... Fresno State finished the 2010 season 9-9-5.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine
UH will be under the leadership of first-year head coach Michele Nagamine, just the second head coach in the 17-year history of the program ... The Rainbow Wahine look to rebound from a 2010 campaign in which it tied a school mark for losses in a season (14) ... UH also looks to return to the WAC Tournament after failing to qualify in each of the last two seasons ... UH loses just three starters from last season, however two of those players are all-WAC players Mari Punzal and Chelsea Deptula ... The Rainbow Wahine return eight starters from last year, including senior defender Brittani Lum, the team's third-leading scorer in 2010 (three goals, one assist) ... Hawai'i welcomes 12 new players to the roster hailing from Hawai'i, California, Colorado and New Zealand.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho returns 16 letterwinners and all 11 regular starters, including WAC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-WAC honoree, Chelsea Small ... The 2010 Vandal squad broke the team record for overall wins (14) and tied the record for conference wins (5) and qualified for the first conference tournament in school history ... Before the 2010 season, only one Idaho soccer player had ever earned an all-conference nod (Chelsea Small, 2009 first-team all-WAC) ... In 2010, four Vandals were named to the all-WAC squad ... Idaho has active streaks of 12 consecutive wins when scoring first and 11 consecutive victories when posting at least two goals ... Idaho's 2010 defensive side posted the lowest goals-allowed-average (1.00) and allowed the fewest goals (20), assists (15) and points (55) in regular-season history.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
Louisiana Tech set a program record with 15 wins last year, surpassing the previous mark of 12 set in 2009 ... After winning only one WAC game in its first five seasons, the Lady Techsters posted a 5-3 mark last year ... Tech qualified for its first ever Western Athletic Conference Tournament, after tying for third place in the regular season standings ... Tech loses only one senior off of last year's team in forward Kiva Gresham, who leaves as the program's all-time leader in points with 74 ... Tech returns the nucleus of last year's team, including all-WAC performers in Scotti Culton and Rachel King, who joined now departed senior Kiva Gresham, as the first Lady Techster soccer players to ever earn all-WAC honors ... Senior Rachel King was one of the top goal scorers in the country last year with 13.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Offensively, The Pack will look to newcomers and relatively inexperienced players for offense in 2011 ... Six players occupied the top two goal scoring spots on the Nevada roster in 2010, with four of them leaving the squad in 2011 ... Kori Disarufino and Danielle Green, who tied for second on the team with three goals, will be the leading scorers to return to the Pack this season ... After missing last years WAC Tournament, the Pack is looking to respond with 11 potential newcomers this season ... Marie Cove is one of the most important players to leave the Pack via graduation heading into 2011. Cove set the school record for shutouts (9) after posting four in 2010 ... Dr. Melissa Price will attempt to bring her own style to the Wolf Pack in 2011, getting what will truly be her first full class of student-athletes into the program, in her second season as head coach.
New Mexico State Aggies
Qualified for the WAC Tournament in its inaugural season in 2009 ... Smashed multiple school records in 2010 including goals (34), assists (26), points (94) and shots (241) ... Forward Yolanda McMillion recorded the first hat trick in program history against Prairie View A&M, Aug. 29, 2010 ... Scored eight goals in a match twice in 2010, a new program-high mark ... Didn't allow more than a single goal in a match during non-conference play in 2010 ... Won the first Hotel Encanto Aggie Classic in 2010 ... Crystal Burns earned second team All-WAC honors in 2010, and she is the third all-conference selection in program history.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State returns 10 starters and 16 letterwinners from last season's squad that posted a 12-7-2 record ... Among the returning starters are the team's top-two scorers in junior Kelsey Lord (9 goals, 11 assists) and sophomore Kayla Santacruz (10 goals, 6 assists) ... Head coach Jeff Leightman returns for his fourth season at San Jose State ... In back-to-back seasons, he led the Spartans to the program's only two regular-season conference titles (2009, 2010) ... The Spartans made it to the 2010 WAC championship match in Ruston, La. , where they tied Fresno State through 110 minutes and eventually fell 3-1 in a penalty shootout ... Santacruz earned Freshman of the Year distinction, Lord and Ingram made first team and senior Lauren Sanchez made second team ... The team received the 2010 NSCAA College Team Academic Award for the second consecutive year.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State won a share of the 2010 WAC regular season title, its second WAC Championship in the last three years ... Utah State had three players named first-team all-WAC in junior Shantel Flanary, sophomore Natalie Norris and junior Chandra Salmon ... Norris was also named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year ... Norris was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) all-West Region third-team as well as the WAC Defensive Player of the Year ... USU received the NSCAA/Adidas College Women's Team Academic Award for the eighth-straight year. Four players also received NSCAA Scholar all-West Region honors ... Ten players earned academic all-WAC honors last season ... Utah State scored 90 points in 2010 which was third behind the 2007 and 2002 teams. Senior forward Lauren Hansen had a team-leading 28 points in 2010 which was tied for second in Utah State history.
WAC NOTES
TOP STAT LEADERS FROM '10 RETURN FOR '11 SEASON
Following are the returning stat leaders in the WAC for 2011. Each of the 15 WAC-only statistical leaders return this season. Idaho's Chelsea Small returns after leading the WAC in league-only games in shots (58), shots per game (7.25), and game-winning goals (4). San Jose State's Kayla Santacruz returns after leading the league in WAC games last season in points (19), points per game (2.38), goals (8) and goals per game (1.00). SJSU's Kelsey Lord returns to the pitch this season after leading the WAC in assists (8) and assists per game (1.00) in league-only games last year. Utah State's Molli Merrill returns after leading current league members in shutouts (5), shutouts per game (0.62) and goals against average (0.73). San Jose State's Meghan Maiwald led the league during WAC play last season in saves (43) and saves per game (5.38).
RETURNING ALL-WAC PLAYERS
The WAC returns 13 all-conference players for the 2011 season. Idaho and Utah State lead the way with four returning all-WAC members. Returning to Idaho this year are 2010 first team all-WAC honorees Chelsea Small and Jill Flockhart, and second teamers Lauren Layton and Liz Boyden. Utah State returns three first team all-WAC honrees in Shatel Flanary, Chandra Salmon and Natalie Norris. Utah State also returns second team all-WAC honoree Summer Tillotson. San Jose State welcomes back all-WAC first teamer and WAC Defensive Player of the Year Jessica Ingram. Idaho welcomes back 2010 first team all-WAC honorees Kelsey Lord and Jessica Ingram. The Spartans also welcome back second team honoree Lauren Sanchez. Louisiana Tech returns 2010 first team honoree Scotti Culton and second teamer Rachel King.
NCAA STAT LEADERS RETURNING
Three players who ranked in the top-50 individually in the nation in a statistical category returns to the pitch this season. Idaho's Chelsea Small returns after ranking 33rd nationally in points per game (1.43), 23rd in goals per game (0.619) and 21st in total goals (13). Louisiana Tech's Rachel King returns for her senior season after ranking 40th nationally in points per game (1.38), 23rd in goals per game (0.619) and 21st nationally in total goals (13). San Jose State's Kelsey Lord returns this season after ranking 48th nationally in points per game (1.35), 13th in assists per game (0.55) and 20th in total assists (20).
2011 NCAA OPPONENTS
Excluding last year's WAC representitive Fresno State, WAC teams will play in 20 matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Six of the matches will played at WAC home sites. Fresno State and Hawai'i will each play four games against non-conference opponents that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year.
Fresno State at Texas A&M, Aug. 19
Santa Clara at San Jose State, Aug. 19
Fresno State vs. UT-San Antonio, Aug. 21
Nevada vs. Penn State, Aug. 21
California at Hawai'i, Aug. 26
San Jose State vs. UC Irvine, Aug. 26
North Dakota State at Hawai'i, Aug. 27
Hawai'i at UC Irvine, Sept. 2
Sacramento State at Fresno State, Sept. 4
Hawai'i at Long Beach State, Sept. 4
Fresno State at UCLA, Sept. 11
Idaho vs. North Dakota State, Sept. 11
Louisiana Tech at Jackson State, Sept. 11
San Jose State at Sacramento State, Sept. 16
Utah State at Oklahoma State, Sept. 18
Idaho at Brigham Young, Sept. 20
Utah State at Brigham Young, Sept. 22
Sacramento State at Nevada, Sept. 23
New Mexico at New Mexico State, Sept. 25
Nevada at Santa Clara, Sept. 29
2011 NCAA COLLEGE CUP
The 30th Annual Women's College Cup will be held Dec. 2 and 4, 2011, in Kennesaw, Ga., at the Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium. Last season, the WAC had one team compete in postseason play with Fresno State falling in the first round to Central Florida. The following is a list of sites and dates for the 2011 NCAA Tournament:
First/Second Rounds (16)
November 11 and 13, 2011
On campus sites TBD
Third Rounds (8)
November 18, 19 or 20, 2011
On campus sites TBD
Quarterfinals (4)
November 25, 26, or 27, 2011
On campus sites TBD
Women's College Cup
December 2 and 4, 2011
Host: Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Ga.
KSU Soccer Stadium