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GCU'S JACKSON, SU'S BJORNETHUN NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson and Seattle U's Kyle Bjornethun have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 17 - 23.
Jackson, a junior forward from Phoenix (Cactus Shadows HS), scored three goals in two games to retain his lead atop the WAC's scoring list. He scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season in Friday's 5-1 win over UMKC and added his 14th goal in a 1-0 win over UIW, the match's only score. He would rank third nationally in goals if GCU was eligible for NCAA statistical rankings and also has eight goals in WAC matches. This is Jackson's third weekly honor this season.
Bjornethun, a senior defender from Snohomish, Wash. (Glacier Peak HS), played all 200 minutes on the Redhawk back line. On the road at UIW on Friday, he helped Seattle U hold on for a 1-1 draw in San Antonio. In Sunday's 3-0 win over UT Rio Grande Valley, he helped SU stay undefeated at home and in WAC play, adding an assist on the game-winning goal by Alex Roldan.
Other offensive nominees: Air Force's John Sims logged his fifth goal of the season in a 3-0 shutout of UMKC on Sunday … UNLV's Danny Musovski posted his second five-point match of the season, scoring twice and assisting on another goal in Friday's win over Air Force … Seattle U's Alex Roldan scored a goal in each of the Redhawks' matches last week to help keep SU atop the WAC table … UT Rio Grande Valley's Isidro Martinez recorded his first career multi-assist match in Friday's 2-0 win at CSU Bakersfield … Utah Valley's Aaron Meyer assisted on both of UVU's goals in a 2-1 win at San José State.
Other defensive nominees: Air Force's Trey Pujats helped the Falcons earn the shutout on Saturday against UMKC … Grand Canyon's Kendyl Day made four saves to earn his fourth shutout of the season in a 1-0 win over UIW on Sunday …Utah Valley's Alex Neff helped UVU to a fifth-straight shutout on Friday against Houston Baptist.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
League-leader Seattle U leads the WAC in shots (242) while Air Force leads the conference in points (109), goals (38) and assists (33). Nationally-ranked Utah Valley is tops in goals allowed (11), goals against average (0.69) and shutouts (10). San José State has the most saves (90).
Individually, Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson is the leader in shots (62), points (29) and goals (14). UVU's Aaron Meyer leads the WAC in assists with seven while teammate Mitch Jensen holds the low goals against average (0.14) and high save percentag e(.933). SJSU's Nedin Tucakovic has a WAC-high 86 saves.
In WAC-only play, Seattle U leads in shots (125), points (54), goals (18) and assists (18). Utah Valley is tops in goals allowed (3), goals against average (0.43) and shutouts (5). Houston Baptist has a WAC-high 46 saves in conference play.
Individually, GCU's Jackson leads in shots (38), points (16) and goals (6). AF's Tucker Bone has the lead in assits with four. UVU's Jensen is tops in goals against average (0.17) and save percentage (.933) while HBU's Chance Pope tops the lists for saves (43).
PUNCHING TICKETS
Seattle U, Utah Valley and Air Force were the first three teams to earn their spot at the upcoming WAC Men's Soccer Tournament in Orem, Utah. UNLV looks to be the next in line to qualify but the Rebels have a tough week ahead of them, traveling to league-leader SU on Thursday and nationally-ranked UVU on Saturday. UTRGV is next in line as the Vaqueros will try to use a home match against Air Force on Saturday to solidity its chances of qualifying for the conference tournament.
NATIONALLY RANKED
Utah Valley held steady in the NSCAA Coaches' Top 25 this week, remaining at 21st. The Wolverines moved up two spots in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 to 14th and three spots in the College Soccer News Top 30 to 17. Seattle U is among those receiving votes in both the NSCAA Top 25 and CSN Top 30 while Air Force is also receiving votes in the CSN Top 30.
REPPING IN THE RPI
Utah Valley remains among the nations' best in the latest RPI rankings, sitting at 23. Seattle U and Air Force both dropped in the rankings, to 58 and 71 respectively.
BEST IN THE WEST
Utah Valley remains third and Seattle U remains fourth in the latest NSCAA West Region Rankings. Air Force dropped one spot to sixth, trading spots with Omaha. Denver is the top ranked team in the region, followed by Loyola-Chicago.
BROTHERS IN SCORING
Seattle U's Alex Roldan scored the game-winning goal on Sundy to clinch the Redhawks' playoff berth with a 3-0 win over UTRGV. The goal came just about two hours after his brother Cristian, a midfielder for the Seattle Sounders of the MLS, scored the game-winning goal against Real Salt Lake to clinch a playoff berth for the Sounders.
SHUT IT
Utah Valley has already recorded 10 shutouts this season, including five straight in WAC play, and the Wolverines are in reach of setting new WAC records for clean sheets. Former WAC member SMU holds the current record for shutouts in a season (11) in 1999 and shutouts in WAC play (5) in 1996. Both of those Mustang teams were coached by current Grand Canyon manager Schellas Hyndman.
FOR THE AGES
CSU Bakersfield goalie Nicolas Clever is now the WAC's all-time saves leader over the weekend as the senior has 214 stops in his career. He is also second in WAC saves with 108. UIW's Ben Conway became the WAC's all time leader in shots during conference play with 101 while UNLV's Danny Musovski moved up with third all-time in points with 73. Musovski is also the current career leader for points in WAC play with 42, though the junior has several active players chasing him on the list. SJSU's Jonathan Colunga recently tied SMU's Daniel Hernandez (1996-97) for the top spot on the WAC assist list with 11.
CONFERENCE CALL
As a conference, the WAC is second nationally in goals (225) and assists (206), trailing only the Atlantic Coast Conference. The WAC is also third in the nation in saves (673).
THANK YOU FANS
Grand Canyon is currently eighth nationally in attendance, having drawn an average of 2,742 fans in each of their eight home matches. Utah Valley is 14th with an average of 1,936 fans in the Wolverines' first six home matches.
TIP OF THE HAT
Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson scored the WAC's first hat trick of the season on Sept. 15, scoring three goals in a 3-0 win over IUPUI. He followed that up with another hat trick on Oct. 6 at Houston Baptist.
RAINED OUT
After playing 45 minutes, the season opener between Central Arkansas and UMKC was officially cancelled with UCA leading 1-0 after a storm went through Kansas City, causing flash floods throughout the city.
BJORNETHUN, OLSEN HIGHLIGHT PRESEASON ALL-WAC SQUAD
Seattle U defender Kyle Bjornethun and forward David Olsen were selected as WAC Preseason Defensive and Offensive Player of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's 11 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players. Redhawks midfielder Sergio Rivas joining his teammates on team. Utah Valley had three players as Skyler Milne, Paul Hoffmeister and Alex Neff all picked up preseason honors. UNLV and San José State each had two players with the Rebels represented by Danny Musovski and Richard Garness and the Spartans represented by Rory Knibbs and Jonathan Colunga. Grand Canyon's Amer Sasivarevic represented the Lopes to round out the 11-player squad.
THREE NAMED TO MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST
Seattle U's Kyle Bjornethun and David Olsen and UNLV's Danny Musovski are among those on the watch list for the 2016 Missouri Athletic Club's (MAC) Hermann Trophy. Olsen was a semiThrough 10/24ist for the 2015 WAC Hermann Trophy, Bjornthun was the 2015 WAC Defensive Player of the Year and Musovski earned 2015 WAC Offensive Player of the Year honors. All three were also named NSCAA All-Americans last season with Olsen earning First Team honors and Bjornethun and Musovski each picking up Second Team honors.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
After helping the Redhawks bust onto the national scene last season, Seattle U forward David Olsen and defender Kyle Bjornethun were named First Team Preseason All-Americans by CollegeSoccerNews.com. UNLV forward Danny Musovski was also recognized, earning second team honors.
Bjornethun also earned First Team honors from Top Drawer Soccer. Olsen was a Second Team selection in the TDS Preseason Best XI while Musovski and Utah Valley's Alex Neff earned third team honors. Grand Canyon defender Hector Montalvo rounded out the WAC players honored, being named to the Freshman First Team.
PLAYING THE BEST
The WAC has eight non-conference games against participants from the 2015 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. Seattle U is playing two postseason participants, traveling to both Akron and Dartmouth. San José State is also taking on two postseason schools on the road, traveling to defending champion Stanford and Santa Clara. UIW will tak on SMU, Air Force meets Cal Poly, UT Rio Grande Valley plays Cal State Fullerton and UMKC heads to Creighton.
COMING TO YOU LIVE
The WAC Digital Network will broadcast 28 regular season games and all five games of the 2016 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament in Orem, Utah.