WHAT’S ON TAP IN THE WACThe final weekend of conference play begins Friday as the teams jockey for seeds in next week’s WAC Tournament. UNLV plays just one match and travels to Grand Canyon on Sunday afternoon. With a win, the Rebels would clinch the top seed in the tournament and earn at least a share of the WAC’s regular season title. A possible three-way tie for the title could occur if Seattle U, Incarnate Word and UNLV all win their games over the weekend. UNLV would earn the top seed in the tournament in that scenario since it beat both of the other teams.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE – Seattle U’s Hamza Haddadi, a junior forward from Shoreline, Wash. (Shorewood), scored two goals on four shots and had an assist as the Redhawks won both of its matches over the weekend. On Friday, he scored the first goal of the game in the sixth minute to help give Seattle U a 3-1 victory over Houston Baptist. Yesterday, Haddadi assisted on what would be the game-winner in the second minute and then added the second goal of the game in a 3-0 victory against Incarnate Word. The win moved Seattle U into a tie for second in the WAC standings with Incarnate Word.
DEFENSIVE – Shane Haworth, a junior goalkeeper from Puyallup, Wash. (Emerald Ridge), allowed just one goal in two matches over the weekend. He made six saves and gave up one goal in a 3-1 victory against Houston Baptist on Friday night. Haworth then recorded six saves and in posting his eighth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Incarnate Word on Sunday. The loss was just the second for the Cardinals in WAC play this year.
Others nominated on offense:
Julian Zamora, Fr., F, Bakersfield - scored a goal in each match last week to give him 10 on the season and became the second Roadrunner to score at least 10 goals in a season at the Division I level.
Alberto Sanchez Garcia, Jr., F, Grand Canyon - scored the game-tying goal in a 1-1 draw against Bakersfield on Sunday. He converted a penalty kick with just over five minutes to play in regulation.
Broc Cramer, Jr., MF/F, Missouri-Kansas City - scored his first goal of the season on his only shot of the game in a 3-1 win against Air Force on Saturday.
Karson Payton, Fr., F, Utah Valley - had one goal and two assists in a 1-0-1 weekend for the Wolverines. Payton assisted on the game-tying goal late in the match against Incarnate Word and then had a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over Houston Baptist.
Also nominated on defense:
Nicolas Clever, So., GK, Bakersfield - made 14 saves and allowed one goal in each match as Bakersfield went 1-0-1 over the weekend. In a 1-1 draw at Grand Canyon, Clever had a career-high nine saves.
Jaime Olabarria, Jr., D, Grand Canyon - played all 200 minutes over the weekend and helped the ‘Lopes to a 1-1 draw against Bakersfield on Sunday.
Guerrero Pino, Jr., D, Missouri-Kansas City - helped hold Air Force to just one goal and scored the first goal of the game in the third minute in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over the Falcons.
Cameron Kidwell, Sr., D, Utah Valley - played all 200 minutes over the weekend and helped Utah Valley to its fourth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win against Houston Baptist.
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 NEXT WEEK’S TOURNAMENT
The WAC Digital Network will show all five matches from next 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.
FIVE TEAMS IN REGIONAL RANKINGS
The WAC has five teams in the top 10 of the NSCAA West Regional Rankings including the number spot held by Seattle U. UNLV is second, Utah Valley seventh, Air Force ninth and Bakersfield 10th.
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 (258) while UNLV leads in points (104), goals (38) and assists (28). Air Force leads the WAC in saves (85) while Utah Valley leads in goals against average (0.76). UNLV has posted the most shutouts with nine.
Individually, Grand Canyon’s Alberto Sanchez Garcia leads the WAC in shots with 63. Bakersfield’s Julian Zamora leads the WAC with 21 points and 10 goals. San Jose State’s Johnathan Colunga leads the WAC in assists with eight. Five goalkeepers lead the WAC in different statistical categories as Utah Valley’s Collin Partee leads the WAC in goals against average (0.78), while Air Force’s Jake Schenk leads the WAC in save percentage (.843) and Seattle U’s Shane Haworth leads the WAC in saves (79). Houston Baptist’s Kevin Suarez leads the WAC in saves per game (6.11). UNLV’s Ryan Harding has posted the most shutouts with 8.1.
UTAH VALLEY IN TOP 15 OF ATTENDANCE
In its inaugural year, the Utah Valley men’s soccer team is averaging 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.