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FALETTO AND GLOVEUS NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Houston Baptist's Dominick Faletto and UNLV's Richard Garness have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 5 - 12.
Faletto, a freshman forward from Forney, Texas (Forney HS), registered his first three-point match in HBU's 3-1 win over No. 19 Seattle U on Friday and then followed that up with a goal in Sunday's 2-1 win over No. 23 Utah Valley. He assisted on Friday's game winner and then scored a breakaway goal to seal the win. On Sunday, he scored the equalizer just three minutes after UVU scored.
Garness, a junior goalkeeper from Las Vegas (Arbor View HS), posted a career-high eight saves to earn the shutout in a 1-0 win at San José State. He followed that up with four saves at CSU Bakersfield, holding the Roadrunners to just one goal as the teams played to a 1-1 draw in a rematch of last season's tournament title game. He finished the week with a .923 save percentage on 28 shots faced.
Other offensive nominees: Air Force's Tucker Bone scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Incarnate Word … CSU Bakersfield's Julian Zamora scored the Roadrunners' lone goal in a 1-1 draw with UNLV on Sunday … Missouri-Kansas City's Nick Cramer scored his first goal of the season in a 1-0 win over Incarnate Word on Thursday … San José State's Rory Knibbs scored twice and assisted on another in the Spartan's 6-0 win over Grand Canyon … Seattle U's Michael Roberts scored a goal each against Houston Baptist and UT Rio Grande Valley … UT Rio Grande Valley's Juanito Garcia scored his first-career goal on Sunday against No. 19 Seattle U … Utah Valley's Paul Hoffmeister scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win at UTRGV.
Other defensive nominees: Air Force's Rob Blair posted his first-career shutout in a 1-0 win over Incarnate Word … CSU Bakersfield's Oscar Gloveus made a combined 13 saves as the Runners went 1-0-1 on the weekend … Houston Baptist's Darrell Johnson scored in a 3-1 win over No. 19 Seattle U and provided strong defense against both SU and No. 23 Utah Valley ... Missouri-Kansas City's Ryan Tome recorded his second shutout of the season in a win over Incarnate Word … San José State's Emmanuel Espinoza earned the shutout in a 6-0 win over Grand Canyon after allowing a lone goal against UNLV … UT Rio Grande Valley's Sergio Cavazos played all 180 minutes across two minutes as the Vaqueros played both No. 19 Seattle U and No. 23 Utah Valley tough … Utah Valley's Connor Salmon led the Wolverines to a shutout at UT Rio Grande Valley.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Seattle U leads the WAC in shots (235) and goals (28) while Utah Valley has the lead in goals allowed (9), goals against average (0.68) and shutouts (6). Incarnate Word is tops in assists (18) while UT Rio Grande Valley leads in saves (63).
Individually, Grand Canyon's Alberto Sanchez Garcia continues to lead the WAC in shots with 49. Incarnate Word's Noah Keats has a WAC-best 19 points and is among four players with eight goals, joining San José State's Rory Knibbs, Seattle U's Hamza Haddadi and UNLV's Danny Musovski to lead the league in scoring. UIW's Dylan Kelley and Utah Valley's Aaron Meyer are tied for the lead with six assists.
In goal, UVU's Derek Wilcox has a WAC-leading 0.60 goals-against average and UIW's Kieran O'Boyle leads the conference with an .800 save percentage. UTRGV's Leo Castillo still leads the WAC with 58 saves while Seattle U's Shane Haworth has a league-best five shutouts this season.
REPPING THE RPI RANKINGS
After falling to Houston Baptist on Friday night, Seattle U fell four spots in the RPI rankings to 14. Utah Valley also dropped after losing to HBU, falling five spots to 35. UNLV climbed three spots to 68 and CSU Bakersfield moved up 28 spots to 108 after defeating Grand Canyon and tying UNLV. Houston Baptist moved up 63 spots after beating a pair of top-25 teams. UMKC moved up 24 spots to 130, two spots ahead of Air Force at 132. Grand Canyon fell to 145 while San José State moved up to 151. UTRGV moved up two spots to 178 while Incarnate Word fell 15 spots to 184.
IN THE POLLS
After going 1-1 on the road last weekend, Seattle U fell in the national polls. The Redhawks will enter this weekend ranked 14th in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25, 20th in the College Soccer News Top 30 and 24th in the ational Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA) Top 25. Utah Valley fell out of both the NSCAA Top 25 and CSN Top 30 though the Wolverines are still among those receiving votes by College Soccer News.
REGIONALLY RANKED
Seattle U and Utah Valley traded places in the NSCAA West Regional Rankings after both teams went 1-1 in Texas last weekend. The Redhawks now sit in second place behind Denver, with the Wolverines at third. UNLV moved up to fourth and CSU Bakersfield moved into the regional rankings at nine after beating Grand Canyon and tying UNLV at home.
HUSKIES HUNTING TOP 25 FOES
Houston Baptist was celebrating on Friday night after defeating No. 19 Seattle U, 3-1, for its first win over a Top-20 opponent in program history and the first win over a ranked foe since 2009. The celebration continued into Sunday afternoon as HBU made it two-for-two over Top 25 teams, defeating No. 23 Utah Valley, 2-1.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
HBU's Dominick Faletto was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week and the College Soccer News Team of the Week after helping lead the Huskies to a pair of Top-25 wins over Seattle U and Utah Valley.
SCORING IN THE CLASSROOM
Posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher, four WAC men's soccer teams have been honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America for success in the classroom.Houston Baptist, Grand Canyon, Seattle U and Utah Valley represented the WAC on the list of 305 spanning all divisions. It is the second time earning the honor for all four schools. In addition, the women's teams at all four schools were also honored by the NSCAA.
TOP OF THE CLASS
CSU Bakersfield midfielder Christian Duarte has been selected as one of 30 men's soccer student-athletes listed as candidates for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athelte must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competiton.
GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!
Seattle U forward Hamza Haddadi made the most of his season opener, tying the WAC record for goals in a game with four. The feat was last completed by New Mexico's Justin Sells on 1996 against Fort Lewis.
WAC MEN'S SOCCER EXPANDS TO 11 TEAMS
For 2015, the WAC will be expanding to 11 teams with the addition of UT Rio Grande Valley. The league is made up of both full time members of the WAC and affiliates: Air Force (affiliate), CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, Houston Baptist (affiliate), Incarnate Word (affiliate), Missouri-Kansas City, San José State (affiliate), Seattle U, UTRGV and Utah Valley. Regular-season play will consist of a single round-robin format between all 11 teams 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. The top six teams will advance to the WAC tournament Nov. 12-13 and 15. Grand Canyon and Incarnate Word are ineligible due to their transition from Division II to Division I.
ONES TO WATCH
Three WAC men's soccer players have already found themselves among the top college soccer players in the country as CSU Bakersfield's Christian Duarte and Julian Zamora and UNLV's Rodrigo Fuentes were among 30 players mentioned on the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy watch list. The MAC Hermann Trophy goes to the top male and female college soccer players, as voted upon by coaches across the country.
REDHAWKS AND REBELS FAVORITES TO WIN WAC TITLE
Seattle U narrowly edged past UNLV in the preseason coaches poll with both the Redhawks and Rebels picking up five first-place votes. CSU Bakersfield earned the remaining first place vote as the Roadrunners were picked third in the preseason poll. Utah Valley earned the fourth place position ahead of fifth-place San José State. Missouri-Kansas City and Incarnate Word tied for sixth place followed by Grand Canyon, Air Force, Houston Baptist and first-year program UTRGV.
NCAA OPPONENTS
WAC teams will play in 14 matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Four of the matches will be played at WAC home sites with Seattle U hosting two and Missouri-Kansas City and Utah Valley each hosting one. Seattle U leads all teams with four matches against postseason participants, followed by two each for Utah Valley, Missouri-Kansas City and San José State. CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, Houston Baptist and UTRGV will all play one.
Aug. 29 CSU Bakersfield at Denver
Sep. 3 Seattle U vs. Northwestern (at Spokane, Wash.)
Sep. 4 Missouri-Kansas City at SIU Edwardsville
Sep. 10 San José State at Stanford
Sep. 13 Houston Baptist vs. Hartwick (at Spokane, Wash.)
Sep. 27 Seattle U at Oregon State
Sep. 20 Dartmouth at Seattle U
Sep. 20 Utah Valley at Denver
Sep. 20 San José State at San Diego
Sep. 20 UTRGV at CSU Fullerton
Sep. 21 Tulsa at Missouri-Kansas City
Sep. 24 Washington at Seattle U
Sep. 24 CSU Fullerton at Utah Valley
Sep. 27 Grand Canyon at CSU Fullerton
2015 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Men's Soccer Tournament will be held In Kansas City, Mo., November 12-13 and 15. The top six eligible teams will participate (Grand Canyon and Incarnate Word are ineligible due to their transition from Division II to Division I).