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BJORNETHUN AND KHAMVONGSA NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Seattle U's Kyle Bjornethun and UNLV defender Jason Khamvongsa have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 21-27.
Bjornethun, a junior defender from Snohomish, Wash. (Glacier Peak HS), scored both the equalizer and the game-winner in the Redhawks' 2-1 win at No. 13 Oregon State on Sunday. He also played all 90 minutes against No. 10 Washington as Seattle U held the Huskies to just a penalty kick goal in a 2-1 win at Championship Field. He was named College Soccer News National Player of the Week as the Redhawks broke into the Top 25 in two polls, sitting at 15 in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and 16 in the College Soccer News Top 30.
Khamvongsa, a senior defender from Honolulu (Kaiser HS), led the Rebel backline that posted the team's third shutout of the season, 1-0 over a Gonzaga team that was coming in off a 2-1 win over ranked Oregon State. He helped the Rebels hold the Bulldogs to a season - low tying two total shots on goal, Gonzaga was forced to settle for long distance shots for majority of contests. Win was UNLV's sixth straight, longest since 1987 and ties for third longest active in nation.
Other offensive nominees: Air Force's Zach Hill scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win at Bradley on Sunday ... CSU Bakersfield's Christian Duarte scored the game-winning goal just over two minutes into overtime to give the Runners a 2-1 win at San Francisco … Grand Canyon's Alberto Sanchez Garcia assisted on the equalizer and then scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win at Pacific … Missouri-Kansas City's Pandelis Popgeorgiev scored a goal to help UMKC take a 2-0 lead over Tulsa … UT Rio Grande Valley's Rico Laitinen put in the game-winning goal in extra time to give the Vaqueros a 2-1 win over Our Lady of the Lake … Utah Valley's Karson Payton scored the game-winner against CSU Fullerton.
Other defensive nominees: Air Force's John Wendt posted his second career shutout in a 1-0 win at Bradley … CSU Bakersfield's Nick Clever earned the win a 2-1 win at San Francisco, making a save and allowing just one goal … UT Rio Grande Valley's Leo Castillo made five saves to help his team earn the 2-1 overtime win over Our Lady of the Lake … Utah Valley's Alex Neff helped limit CSU Fullerton to just two shots on goal while scoring the equalizer and assisting on the game-winner in a 2-1 win over the Titans.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Heading into conference play, Seattle U leads the WAC in shots (162), points (47), goals (18), goals against average (0.56) and is tied with Incarnate Word for the lead in goals allowed (5) and shutouts with Utah Valley at four. UTRGV is tops in saves at 41 while Incarnate Word continues to lead in assists with 12.
Individually, Grand Canyon's Alberto Sanchez Garcia leads the league in shots with 34. Incarnate Word's Noah Keats and Seattle U's Hamza Haddadi are tied for the lead in points with 16 and goals with seven.
Utah Valley's Aaron Meyer has a WAC-best four assists this season. In goal, Seattle U's Shane Haworth has the top GAA at 0.56 while Incarnate Word's Kieran O'Boyle has the top save percentage at .857. UTRGV's Leo Castillo holds the lead in saves at 36 while Haworth holds the lead in shutouts with four.
CONFERENCE TIME
After a month of non-conference play, the conference schedule begins this week when CSU Bakersfield visits Incarnate Word on Wednesday. This season, the WAC will play a single round-robin format, making every match important when it comes to qualifying for the 2015 WAC Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
REPPING THE RPI RANKINGS
The first official RPI rankings came out this week and the WAC has three teams in the top 30. Seattle U leads the league with a rank of 16 while both Utah Valley and UNLV are not far behind, coming in at 26 and 27 respectively. CSU Bakersfield also cracked the top 100, ranking 97 in the first calculation.
NATIONAL HONORS
It seems like scoring twice in less than two minutes to beat a ranked opponent on the road has a way of getting a player noticed as Seattle U's Kyle Bjornethun has been named College Soccer News National Player of the Week, as well as NSCAA Division I Men's Player of the Week. He rounded out the honors, earning a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week.
IN THE POLLS
After knocking off No. 10 Washington and No. 13 Oregon State, Seattle U made its season debut in all three national polls. The Redhawks flew to 15th in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25, 16th in the College Soccer News Top 30 and 24th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Top 25. SU had company in the coaches' poll as Utah Valley also made its debut, rounding out the poll at 25th. UNLV was among those receiving votes as the Rebels are riding a six-game win streak.
REGIONALLY RANKED
The WAC continues to dominate the NSCAA West Regional Ranking with five teams in the top ten. Utah Valley is the top ranked WAC school, holding down the second position, followed by Seattle U in third. UNLV is fifth while Incarnate Word moved up a spot to ninth. CSU Bakersfield made its debut at 10th. Denver is the top ranked team in the West Region.
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).