WHAT’S ON TAP IN THE WAC
Only two weeks remain in the regular season. Seattle U leads with 17 points while Bakersfield and UNLV have 13 and 12, respectively. The East Division hosts the West Division this weekend with full action on both Friday and Sunday.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE – Air Force’s Blake Elder, a freshman defender from Fort Worth, Texas (USAFA Prep School), scored both goals for Air Force in the Falcons’ pair of 1-1 draws on the road last week. On Friday, he scored his first career goal (unassisted) in the 75th minute to even the game against league-leading Seattle U. Two days later, he scored another unassisted goal with 24 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the match at San Jose State. It was Air Force’s only shot on goal in the game. For the week, Elder attempted four shots and is currently tied for second on the team in scoring with six points.
DEFENSIVE – UNLV’s Kyle Mellies, a junior defender from Las Vegas, Nev. (Silverado HS), anchored UNLV’s defensive effort in a sweep of Kansas City and Houston Baptist. The Rebels did not allow a goal while Mellies was on the field. UNLV shut out Kansas City, 2-0, and held the ‘Roos to just 13 shots in the game. The Rebels were leading 2-0 against Houston Baptist when Mellies left the game in the first half due to injury. The Huskies had just five shots in the first half of that match. Mellies also added his second goal of the year and first game-winner in the 70th minute against Kansas City.
Others nominated on offense:
Jonathan Colunga, Fr., MF, Bakersfield - scored the first two goals of his career in a sweep last weekend. Colunga had a goal against both Houston Baptist and Kansas City.
Alberto Sanchez, So., F, Grand Canyon - scored the ‘Lopes’ only goal last weekend in a 3-1 loss at San Jose State. He placed a total of four of his seven shots on goal.
Kyle Herbison, Sr., D, Houston Baptist - scored a goal in both matches for the Huskies last weekend in games against Bakersfield and UNLV.
Joaquin Rivas, Sr., F, UNLV - returned to the lineup on Friday after missing four games due to injury and then scored five points in a 5-2 win over Houston Baptist. Rivas had two goals and an assist. He converted on a penalty kick to record his first multi-goal game of his career.
Hamza Haddadi, So., F, Seattle U - notched is first two-goal match of his career in a win over Grand Canyon and tied his career-high with five shots in that game.
Also nominated on defense:
Jake Schenk, Fr., GK, Air Force - made 14 saves and allowed just two goals in 220 minutes of action as Air Force had a pair of 1-1 draws. He had six saves against Seattle U and eight versus San Jose State.
Ante Spajic, Jr., D, Grand Canyon - played 173 of a possible 180 minutes for Grand Canyon last week and placed his lone shot attempt on goal at Seattle U.
Jake Feener, Sr., GK, Seattle U - recorded his third shutout of the season with a win over Grand Canyon and allowed one goal in a game against Air Force. Feener had a total of 14 saves during the week and continues to lead the nation in saves.
GONZALEZ TIED FOR SECOND IN GOALS
Seattle U senior forward Miguel Gonzalez is tied with six other players for second in the nation in goals with 12 on the year. Gardner-Webb’s Denzel Clarke is the national leader with 15. His 25 points on the season are tied for the eighth most in the country.
FEENER LEADS NATION IN SAVES
In this week’s national stats report, Seattle U’s Jake Feener continues to lead the nation in total saves (112). The next best in the country is 90 saves by three different players. Feener is second in the nation in saves per game with 6.59. As a team, Seattle U is second in the nation in saves per game (6.65).
GRAND CANYON-AFA MATCH RESCHEDULED
The match between Grand Canyon and Air Force that was postponed earlier this month due to the government shutdown has been reschedule. The makeup date is Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 6:00 p.m. MT and will be played at the Air Force Academy.
MEN’S SOCCER RETURNS TO THE WAC
For the first time since 1999, the WAC is sponsoring men’s soccer. The league is made up of eight teams divided into two divisions and includes both full time members of the WAC and affiliates. The East Division is comprised of Air Force (affiliate), Grand Canyon, Houston Baptist (affiliate) and Kansas City. The West Division consists of Bakersfield, UNLV (affiliate), San Jose State (affiliate) and Seattle U. Six of the eight teams competed together in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) the past few years while Kansas City comes to the WAC from the Summit League and Grand Canyon is transitioning from Division II to Division I. Air Force and UNLV competed in the WAC from 1996-98 while San Jose State participated in men’s soccer from 1996-99.
REGULAR SEASON FORMAT
Regular-season play consists of a double round-robin format within each division and a single round-robin against the other division for a total of 10 matches. The points system is as follows: each team will receive three points for a win and one point for a tie.
2013 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Men’s Soccer Tournament will be held at the Air Force Academy, November 14-15 and 17. Every team except Grand Canyon will participate as the Antelopes are ineligible due to their transition from Division II to Division I. Tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased online by going to the WAC’s website at wacsports.com and clicking on the Championships link.
FUTURE MEMBERS
The WAC will expand its men’s soccer league over the next couple of years with new programs from some of its full-time members. Utah Valley will begin play in 2014 while it is also expected to add Chicago State and Texas-Pan American in 2015.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Air Force Falcons
After starting the season with an eight-game losing streak, the Falcons are 1-1-4 in its last six matches ... has played three consecutive games finishing in a 1-1 draw ... freshman Blake Elder scored his first career goal in the 1-1 tie against league-leader SU ... Jake Schenk made six saves in the game ... Elder scored the game-tying goal against SJSU with 24 seconds left ... Jake Schenk is third in the WAC in saves with 55 ... AFA played men’s soccer in the WAC for three seasons from 1996-1998 ... is coming off its first NCAA appearance since 1997 after winning the MPSF tournament last year.
Bakersfield Roadrunners
After a stretch of going 0-5-1, Bakersfield has gone 4-1-1 in its last six matches ... freshman Jonathan Colunga scored his first career goal in the win over HBU while David Velasquez added the other score for the Roadrunners ... was called offsides 12 times in the game ... Colunga scored again in the next game against Kansas City ... CSUB has the most shutouts in the WAC with four ... GK Anthony Perez has three of those, tied for the most in the WAC ... is tied with Air Force in allowing the most goals in the WAC with 29 ... Joe Masumiya is tied for second in the WAC in game-winning goals with two.
Grand Canyon Antelopes
Has lost its last three matches by two or more goals after losing its previous five by just one ...
Alberto Sanchez Garcia scored the Antelopes’ only goal of the weekend with his fourth of the season against San Jose State ... Kyle Ciliento is one goal shy of tying the school record of 55 career goals ... is making the jump up to Division I this season but is ineligble for the WAC’s and NCAA’s postseason due to the transition ... in 1996, GCU won the NCAA Division II National Championship ... the ‘Lopes came into the year posting posted eight consecutive winning seasons.
Houston Baptist Huskies
Is 0-4-1 in its last five matches after a six-game winning streak ... finishes the season with three straight at home ... Kyle Herbison scored the only goal for the Huskies against Bakersfield on a free kick ... HBU allowed five goals against UNLV, the most against the Huskies since Nov. 3, 2012 ... HBU leads the WAC in shots per game (18.8) and goals per game (1.64) ... Tobenna Uzo is second in the WAC in points per game (1.29) and goals per game (0.64) ... he is also tied for second in game-winning goals with two ... Patrick Toh is tied for third in the WAC with 0.29 assists per game.
Kansas City Kangaroos
Had its three-game winning streak snapped in a 2-0 loss at UNLV ... Chris McGaughrey made 10 saves in the match ... lost again, 2-0, at Bakersfield ... has been involved in seven straight matches where the winning team has scored two goals (one tie) ... UMKC has allowed the fewest goals per game in the WAC (1.40) and has the best GAA (1.32) ... is second in the WAC in saves with 84 ... Jordan Rideout is third in the WAC in shots (54) and shots per game (3.60) ... he is tied for third in the WAC in goals with six ... GK Chris McGaughey is second in the WAC in saves (67) and saves per game (5.15).
UNLV Rebels
Has won its last three matches by a combined score of 8-2 ... scored five goals against HBU, the most by a WAC team this year ... UNLV is second in the WAC in shots per game (16.5) and points per game (4.6) ... leads the WAC in assists per game (1.5) ... Salvador Bernal is second in the WAC in shots (56) and shots per game (3.7) ... Julian Portugal leads the WAC in assists with six ... GK Ryan Harding leads the WAC in goals against average (1.1) ... he is tied for the WAC lead in shutouts with three ... UNLV played men’s soccer in the WAC for three seasons from 1996-1998.
San Jose State Spartans
Freshman Rory Knibbs scored two second half goals in a 3-1 win over Grand Canyon ... Ben Cowdrill scored his first collegiate goal in the 79th minute against Air Force ... the Spartans gave up the game-tying goal with 24 seconds to go in that game ... has seven one-goal losses, including five with the score, 1-0 ... sophomore GK Emmanuel Espinosa is second in the WAC in GAA (1.16) and is tied for first with three shutouts ... San Jose State played men’s soccer in the WAC for four seasons from 1996-1999 and in two of those years – 1997 and 1999 – produced the conference’s Freshman of the Year.
Seattle U Redhawks
Has not lost in its last six matches (4-0-2) and is the only WAC team without a loss in conference play ... Brady Ballew scored the only goal for the Redhawks in the 1-1 draw against Air Force ... Seattle U leads the WAC in points (75), goals (27) and saves (113) ... is second in the WAC in GAA (1.38) ... Miguel Gonzalez leads the WAC in goals (12), shots (73) and points (25) ... he also leads the WAC in game-winning goals with three ... Hamza Haddadi is second in the WAC in assists with five ... Jake Feener leads the nation in saves (112) and is first in the WAC in save percentage (.818).