WHAT’S ON TAP IN THE WACWith still three weeks until the start of the conference season, WAC men’s soccer teams are in full action against several non-conference opponents this week. Of the 16 matches this week, only three will be played at WAC home sites. Air Force and UNLV take their undefeated records on the road with the Falcons at UC Davis on Friday and the Rebels at Gonzaga on Saturday. Houston Baptist travels to Nashville for the Lipscomb Torunament while Bakersfield heads to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Tournament.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE – Utah Valley’s Matt Gay, a freshman forward from Orem, Utah (Orem HS), scored both goals in Utah Valley’s only match of the week on Friday, a 2-0 home victory over Gonzaga in front of 3,209 fans at Clyde Field. His first goal came in the 52nd minute followed by the insurance goal in the 85th minute. Gay now has three goals on the season.
DEFENSIVE – Air Force’s Jake Schenk, a sophomore goalkeeper from Flemington, N.J. (Hunterdon Central), recorded shutouts in both matches for the Falcons over the weekend at home with a 2-0 win against New Hampshire and a 1-0 victory against Oakland. Schenk made seven saves in each match. He has not allowed a goal in 370 minutes and has had three consecutive shutouts. Air Force remains undefeated with a 3-0-2 record on the season.
Others nominated on offense:
Simon Doherty, Jr., F, Bakersfield - scored two goals in a split of two matches last week. Doherty had the game-tying goal in a 3-1 victory over UC Riverside and then scored the lone Roadrunner goal in a 2-1 double overtime loss against UC Davis.
Jose Rodriguez, So., F, Grand Canyon - had three shots and scored a goal in Grand Canyon’s 3-2 double overtime loss against Wright State.
Thilo Borgmann, Jr., MF, Houston Bapist - scored his first goal of the season in the game against IUPUI.
Jordan Rideout, Sr., F, Missouri-Kansas City - scored a goal in the ‘Roos 2-1 victory over SIUE last week. The goal came in the 36th minute and tied the match at one apiece.
Salvador Bernal, Sr., F, UNLV - had the only goal of the match in UNLV’s 1-0 win over No. 14 UMBC on Friday.
Jeff Rose, So., MF, Seattle U - scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Penn last week.
Also nominated on defense:
Ante Spajic, Sr., D, Grand Canyon - helped anchor a defense that allowed just one goal against Cal Poly last Thursday and then added his first assist of the season in the loss against Wright State.
Chris McGaughey, Sr., GK, Missouri-Kansas City - made five saves including one on a penalty kick in the win over SIUE. He also made four saves in the match versus Omaha on Saturday.
Ryan Harding, Sr., GK, UNLV - recorded back-to-back shutouts in the UNLV Nike Invitational. He made two saves against both UMBC and Detroit and has now posted four consecutive shutouts.
Cameron Rohani, So., MF, Seattle U - was part of a defense that shutout Penn last week. He also assisted on a goal in the 2-0 victory.
Collin Partee, Fr., GK, Utah Valley - recorded the first shutout in program history in the Wolverines’ 2-0 win against Gonzaga. He made five saves in the match.
AIR FORCE AND UNLV REMAIN UNDEFEATED
After three weekends of play, both Air Force and UNLV remain undefeated. UNLV opened the season with a 5-0 mark before tying Detroit on Sunday, 0-0. Air Force won both of its matches last week and is 3-0-2 on the season. Through games of Monday, there were 12 other teams in Division I without a loss. UNLV is ranked 23rd in this week’s TopDrawerSoccer.com and Soccer America polls. The Rebels are making their first appearance in a top-25 poll since 1992. UNLV’s win over then 14th-ranked UMBC was its first over a ranked opponent since 2009 and its highest-ranked victory since beating No. 5 Connecticut in 2001.
WAC AT .500 IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The WAC is 20-20-6 versus non-conference opponents this year. A year ago at this time, the WAC was 8-27-5 (.263).
TWO HAT TRICKS IN FIRST WEEK
After no WAC player recorded a hat trick in 2013, there have been two posted already this season. UNLV’s Sal Bernal recorded the WAC’s first hat trick since 1999 with three goals at Bradley on Aug. 31. San Jose State’s Rory Knibbs added another three-goal match on sept. 2 in the Spartans’ 4-1 victory over Massachusetts.
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 has added two more teams to expand to 10 this season. 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 begins 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 is as follows: 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.