THIS WEEK IN WAC SOCCER
WEEK FIVE RECAP
Fresno State was the only WAC team to go undefeated on the weekend, claiming a 2-0 victory over Air Force and equalizing late in a 1-1 draw with Colorado College. San Jose State claimed its first victory of the season with a 1-0 victory over Portland State on Sunday, behind a Lauren Sanchez goal. New Mexico State extended its unbeaten streak to seven games following a 1-1 tie with Idaho State Friday, before falling to Weber State on Sunday. Louisiana Tech played two tight, overtime matches in Texas, falling 1-0 to Texas St. on Friday night and managing a 0-0 tie on Sunday at Sam Houston State. Idaho also suffered a tough loss, falling 2-1 in overtime to rival Washington State on Sunday.
UTAH STATE REMAINS REGIONALLY-RANKED
Depsite dropping two road matches over the weekend, Utah State remained in the NSCAA/Adidas West Regional rankings, coming in at No. 10. The Aggies fell from No. 7, dropping two difficult road matches at No. 2 in the nation, Oklahoma State, and at Tulsa, a squad recieving votes in the Central Region.
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 eight matches this season. Keeper Caitlin Updyke has been credited with seven of the clean sheets, tying her career high in only 11 matches on the season. Unfortunetly for the Lady Techsters, in three of Updyke's shutouts this season, LTU has also failed to score a goal. Additionally, on Friday, Updyke and the Lady Techsters defense held Texas State goaless in regulation, before finally conceeding in the first overtime.
The Lady Techsters aren't the only WAC team to bore scoreboard operators, as New Mexcio State and Fresno State each have five shutouts, and Utah State has four.
TEAM RECAPS
Fresno State Bulldogs (4-3-2, 0-0-0 WAC)
Fresno State went 1-0-1 last weekend in Colorado... the Bulldogs tied Colorado College 1-1 on Friday and then defeated Air Force 2-0 on Sunday ... freshman goaltender Katie DeVault earned her third shutout of the season vs. Air Force ... DeVault allowed just one goal over the weekend and made 19 saves ... she was named WAC Defensive POW for the second time this season ... in the CC game, freshman forward Jaycee Bingham equalized off a header with under three minutes reamining to force overtime ... it was Bingham's third goal of the season and it put her third on the team in points with seven ... DeVault lead the WAC in saves made with 53 ... this week, Fresno faces regionally ranked-ranked Cal Poly Friday and hosts No. 9 in the nation Pepperdine on Sunday.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (1-8-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Hawai'i went 0-2 last week, losing 3-0 to both San Diego State and UNLV at the UNLV Nike Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. ... vs. UNLV, the Rainbow Wahine trailed by just one goal for almost the entire match, before the Lady Rebels added two goals in the final three minutes ... senior midfielder Rachel Domingo is tied for third in the WAC with three assist on the season ... junior goalkeeper Kanani Taaca made nine saves over the weekend ... Taaca is ranked fourth in the WAC in saves, having made 42 this season ... the Warriors are 0-5 on the mainland this season and have been held scoreless in five straight matches away from home ... this week, Hawai'i has no official games scheduled ... the Rainbow Wahine will be in action on Sunday for the annual alumnae game.
Idaho Vandals (3-4-2, 0-0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 0-1 over the weekend with a heart-breaking, 2-1 overtime loss to border-rival Washington State, the Pacific Region's sixth-ranked team ... freshman midfielder Katie Baran netted her second goal in as many games to put the Vandals up in the third minute ... junior goalkeeper Caroline Towles made eight saves in her first career start, but the Cougars scored early the second half to equalize and scored on a counter-attack breakaway midway through the first OT period ... junior midfielder Jill Flockhart earned her team-leading third assist of the season in the match ... all four of Idaho's losses have come by a single goal this year ... this week, the Vandals are busy, playing three matches against regional foes ... Idaho travels to face BYU on Tuesday and Gonzaga on Friday ... the Vandals then return home to host Eastern Washington on Sunday.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (5-2-4, 0-0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech settled for a 0-0 draw at Sam Houston State this weekend and lost in overtime 1-0 at Texas State last weekend ... Louisiana Tech has shutout eight of 11 opponents this season... the eight shutouts are tied for second most in a single season (most is 10 in 2008)... sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Updyke recorded her seventh shutout of the season, tied for the most in a single season in program history ... she has 14 shutouts in her career, most in program history ... LTU's four ties are the second most in a season (most is five in 2008) ... only two players have scored a goal in multiple games this season ... the five games that have gone to overtime are the second most in a season (2008: played six games that went into overtime) ... this week, the Louisiana Tech travels to face Prairie View on Friday and then hosts Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (1-8-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Nevada lost twice last weekend while traveling in California ... the Wolf Pack were defeated by reagionally-ranked Cal Poly 4-1 on Friday and 1-0 by UC Santa Barbara on Sunday ... Madison Lorenzen scored her first career goal Friday in Nevada's 4-1 loss to Cal Poly ... senior defender Annabelle Allen reached a career milestones in games played and started at Nevada, making her 70th appearance against the Gauchos ... she is now five appearances away from entering Nevada's all-time top 10 and only 10 away from tying the all-time record of 80, which is held by three players ... junior Lauren Braman made her 50th consecutive start in the Nevada defense Sunday ... she has started every match of her career ...
this week, Nevada hosts Sacramento State on Friday and UC Davis on Sunday.
New Mexico State Aggies (6-3-1, 0-0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State tied Idaho State 1-1 on Friday night to run its unbeaten streak to seven games, before dropping a 3-0 decison to Weber State on Sunday ... the Friday tie vs. Idaho St. was the first overtime game for the Aggies this season ... in the loss to Weber State, NMSU allowed a first half goal for only the second time this season ... junior forward Yolanda McMillion gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute of action vs. Idaho State with her second goal of the season ... the Aggies are second in the WAC in total shots, having launched 142, averaging over 14 shots per contest ... this week, New Mexico State hosts Embry-Riddle on Friday and then battles in-state rival New Mexico on Sunday.
San Jose State Spartans (1-7-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
San Jose State went 1-1 on the weekend. putting a tally in the win column for the first time this season with a 1-0 victory over visiting Portland State on Sunday ... SJSU fell 1-0 to Sacramento State on Friday ... senior midfielder Lauren Sanchez scored the lone goal in the Spartans' victory over Portland State ... Sanchez was in the right place at the right time to finish a missed shot by teammate Kayla Santacruz ... San Jose State senior goalkeeper Meghan Maiwald collected 12 saves and posted a shutout while carrying a 0.50 goals against average over the weekend ... Maiwald made five saves against the Vikings for her seventh solo clean sheet of her career and first of the season ... this week, San Jose State travels to Pacific on Friday and to Saint Mary's on Sunday.
Utah State Aggies (8-2-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Utah State dropped two difficult road matches over the weekend in Oklahoma ... the Aggies lost to regionally-ranked Tulsa on Friday 1-0 and then fell to Oklahoma State, the no. 2 in the nation, 3-0 on Sunday ... senior forward Marissa Sanchez earned significant playing minutes in the Aggies two losses ... filling in for an injured Aggie, Sanchez was the only Aggie to have a shot in both matches ... she had one shot in the loss to Tulsa and one in the loss to the Cowgirls ... senior goalkeepr Molli Merrill made the initial save on a penalty kick vs. Tulsa, only to have the game's only goal scored on the rebound ... in seven of USU's eight wins this season, the Aggies have captured one-goal victories ... this week, Utah State will take on a pair of heated rivals ... Utah State opens the week against in-state rival BYU on Thursday in Provo ... USU will then take on former WAC rival Boise State on Sunday.