WHAT’S ON TAP IN THE WACThe 2014 WAC Men’s Soccer Tournament begins on Thursday with regular-season champion UNLV earning the top seed and a bye into Friday’s semifinals. All five matches of the tournament will be available for free on the WAC Digital Network and can be viewed on any Internet connected device at:
http://www.wacsports.com/watchThe winner of the tournament earns the WAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament the following week. The bracket will be announced at 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 17.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE – Utah Valley’s Karson Payton, freshman forward from Provo, Utah (Timpview HS), scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in a 3-1 victory at Bakersfield on Friday night to clinch a berth in the WAC Torunament. He then assisted on the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win at San Jose State on Sunday to give the Wolverines the number three seed in this week’s tournament. For the week, Payton had three shots, two on goal and played in 122 minutes of the two matches.
DEFENSIVE – UNLV’s Jason Khamvongsa, a junior defender from Honolulu, Hawaii (Kaiser HS), helped UNLV pitch a shutout for the first 89:20 of a 2-1 victory at Grand Canyon on Sunday. The Rebel defense limited the ‘Lopes to just three shots on goal as UNLV won the outright WAC regular season title and claimed the top seed in this week’s WAC Tournament. Khamvongsa also assisted on UNLV’s first goal of the game and notched his third goal of the season in the 61st minute.
Others nominated on offense:
Alberto Sanchez Garcia, Jr., F, Grand Canyon - scored his team-high seventh goal in the loss to regular season champion UNLV on Sunday.
Marc-Anthone, Fr., MF, Houston Baptist - after no points the entire season, he posted an assist in both matches for the Huskies over the weekend.
Tato Chiaparro, Sr., MF/F, Missouri-Kansas City - had assists on the first two goals of a 3-1 victory over Houston Baptist on Friday, helping UMKC win its fifth straight match.
Hamza Haddadi, Jr., F, Seattle U - scored his fifth goal in as many games with the game-winner in the final two minutes at San Jose State.
Also nominated on defense:
Luca Licciardi, Jr., GK, Grand Canyon - made four saves and allowed two goals against UNLV on Sunday afternoon.
Philip Poser, Jr., GK, Houston Baptist - set a new career-high with 13 saves in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Air Force. The 13 saves are the most since the team was brought back en 2006. The only goal he allowed in that match came on a penalty kick.
Guerrero Pino, Jr., D, Missouri-Kansas City - helped hold Houston Baptist to one goal in a 3-1 victory and also scored a goal and had an assist in the game.
Shane Haworth, Jr., GK, Seattle U - helped lead the team to a 1-0-1 mark over the weekend and posted his ninth shutout of the season in a scoreless draw at Bakersfield.
Skyler Milne, So., MF, Utah Valley - was instrumental in the team’s 2-0 mark over the weekend and also scored the game’s first goal in the win at Bakersfield on Friday.
ALL-WAC TEAMS
WAC regular-season champion UNLV led all schools with five players selected to the all-WAC team, including four on the first team and one on the second team. UNLV senior forward Salvador Bernal was named the WAC’s Offensive Player of the Year, while his teammate, senior defender Kyle Mellies, received Defensive Player of the Year honors. Bakersfield forward Julian Zamora was named the league’s Freshman of the Year and UNLV’s Rich Ryerson was named Coach of the Year.
UNLV WINS REGULAR SEASON TITLE
UNLV won the WAC’s outright regular season title following its 2-1 win at Grand Canyon in the regular season finale. The Rebels were 7-2-1 in conference play and are the number one seed in this week’s WAC Tournament.
THREE PLAYERS NAMED TO ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS
Three WAC men’s soccer players have been named to the Capitol One Academic All-District Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. UNLV’s Kyle Mellies, Air Force’s Tucker Axhoj and Incarnate Word’s Dylan Kelly all earned first team honors. All three will advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot where first, second, and third team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
WAC DIGITAL NETWORK TO FEATURE THIS WEEK’S TOURNAMENT
The WAC Digital Network will show all five matches from this week’s WAC Tournament in Seattle, Wash. The matches can be viewed by going to http://wacsports.com/watch and are available on computers, tablets and smartphones from anywhere for free. The broadcasts also feature adaptive streaming and will detect the user’s bandwidth and adjust the quality of the video accordingly. More features, including on-demand viewing, will be added throughout the season.
FOUR TEAMS IN REGIONAL RANKINGS
The WAC has four teams in the top 10 of the NSCAA West Regional Rankings including the number spot held by UNLV. Seattle U is second, Utah Valley seventh and Bakersfield ninth.
WAC’S NON-CONFERENCE RECORD MUCH IMPROVED
The WAC is 33-36-9 (.481) versus non-conference opponents this year. A year ago, the WAC finished the 2013 season with a non-conference mark of 14-46-8 (.265).
WAC STAT LEADERS
As a team, Bakersfield leads the WAC in shots (283) while UNLV leads in points (110), goals (40) and assists (30). Houston Baptist leads the WAC in saves (100) while Utah Valley leads in goals against average (0.73). UNLV and Seattle U have posted the most shutouts with nine each.
Individually, Grand Canyon’s Alberto Sanchez Garcia leads the WAC in shots with 67. Bakersfield’s Julian Zamora leads the WAC with 21 points and 10 goals. San Jose State’s Jonathan Colunga leads the WAC in assists with eight. Four goalkeepers lead the WAC in different statistical categories as Utah Valley’s Collin Partee leads the WAC in goals against average (0.80), while Air Force’s Jake Schenk leads the WAC in save percentage (.837) and Seattle U’s Shane Haworth leads the WAC in saves (92) and shutouts (9). Houston Baptist’s Kevin Suarez leads the WAC in saves per game (6.11).
UTAH VALLEY IN TOP 15 OF ATTENDANCE
In its inaugural year, the Utah Valley men’s soccer team averaged 1,750 fans per match, the 15th best in the nation. The Wolverines had a high of 3,209 against Gonzaga on Sept. 12.
WAC MEN’S SOCCER EXPANDS TO 10 TEAMS
For the first time since 1999, the WAC sponsored men’s soccer during the 2013 season. Seattle U won the 2013 regular season title with an undefeated mark of 7-0-3 and earned the WAC tournament title to advance to the NCAA tournament where it won its first round game. For 2014, the WAC added two more teams to expand to 10. The league is made up of both full time members of the WAC and affiliates: Air Force (affiliate), Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, Houston Baptist (affiliate), Incarnate Word (affiliate), Missouri-Kansas City, San Jose State (affiliate), Seattle U and Utah Valley. New this season are Incarnate Word and Utah Valley. UIW comes to the WAC after starting its transition from Division II to Division I last season in which it played as an independent. Utah Valley is in its first season of sponsoring men’s soccer.
REGULAR SEASON FORMAT
Regular-season play consists of a single round-robin format between all 10 teams and an additional match against each team’s travel party for a total of 10 matches. The points system will be used to determine conference standings. Each team will receive three points for a win and one point for a tie.
2014 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Men’s Soccer Tournament will be held at Seattle U, November 13-14 and 16. The top six eligible teams will participate (Grand Canyon and Incarnate Word are ineligible due to their transition from Division II to Division I).
FUTURE MEMBER
The WAC will expand its men’s soccer league next year with the addition of Texas-Pan American in 2015. The Broncs have hired Paul Leese as their head coach. Leese spent the previous five seasons as the head coach at Coker College.