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UNLV'S MUSOVSKI, SU'S HADDEN NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
UNLV's Danny Musovski and Seattle U's Jordan Hadden have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 26 - Oct. 2.
Musovski, a junior forward from Henderson, Nev. (Liberty HS), factored in all three goals for the Rebels in a 3-1 win over CSU Bakersfield on Friday night. After assisting on the first goal, he scored twice in the second half to give him five points on the night. He added his sixth goal of the year on Sunday afternoon, scoring the final goal in a 4-0 win over San José State. The junior is now fourth all-time in WAC history in scoring with 26 goals.
Hadden, a senior goalkeeper from Poulsbo, Wash. (North Kitsap HS/Olympic College), took over goalkeeping duties this week and made the most of it, posting a pair of shutouts to open conference play. On Friday night, he made four saves in a 2-0 win over 21st-ranked Utah Valley. He followed that up with another shutout, making three saves in a 2-0 road win at CSU Bakersfield. Prior to the weekend, he had only seen 14 minutes of action this season.
Other offensive nominees: Air Force's Tucker Axhoj played a big role in Sunday's 4-2 win at Incarnate Word, scoring once and assists on another in the Falcon victory … Grand Canyon's Damian German scored the Lopes' lone goal in Friday's 1-1 tie with San José State … UMKC's Eric McWoods finished with nine shots, including six on goal and one in the back of the net, of the ‘Roos 2-0 win at UTRGV on Friday … Seattle U's Alex Roldan had a goal and an assists in Sunday's 2-0 win at CSU Bakersfield.
Other defensive nominees: Air Force's Cameron Duley was instrumental in holding opposing offenses at bay and added a goal and an assist in Sunday's win at Incarnate Word … Grand Canyon's Kendyl Day made three saves on the week and earned his third shutout of the season on Sunday at UT Rio Grande Valley … UMKC's Filippo Errico made six saves to earn his first career shutout on Friday at URGV and made four more saves in Sunday's 2-1 win against Houston Baptist … UT Rio Grande Valley's Frederik Frankman cleared a shot off the line in Friday's loss to UMKC and played a career-high 104 minutes in Sunday's scoreless draw with Grand Canyon.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Following the first weekend of conference play, Seattle U continues to lead the WAC in shots (146) while Air Force is the leader in points (82), goals (28) and assists (26). Seattle U is also tied with Utah Valley for the lead in goals allowed (10) and shutouts (5) while the Redhawks also have the top goals against average at 1.00. San José State leads the league in saves (62).
Individually, Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson has a WAC-high 35 shots. Air Force's Austin Dewing has a league-best 17 points and five assits while Jackson and Dewing are tied with UNLV's Danny Musovski for the lead in goals at six. UT Rio Grande Valley's Esa Aalto holds the top goals-against average (0.93) and top save percetnage (.786). SJSU's Nedin Tucakovic has a WAC-high 61 saves while UVU's Elliott Rubio leads the conference with four shutouts.
With just one weekend of WAC play, UNLV has the early lead in goals (7) and Air Force leads in assits (7). Seattle U is the only school that didn't allow a goal over the weekend. Individually, Musovski has the early goal lead with three while Air Force's Tucker Bone and Seattle U's Jeff Rose each picked up a pair of assists over the weekend.
HERE WE GO
The conference portion of the regular season got off to an exciting start last weekend with Air Force, UNLV and Seattle U all going 2-0 to open the WAC schedule. Air Force will play its third straight road match on Saturday when they travel to Grand Canyon while UNLV hits the road for the first time, completing a Texas two-step with games at UT Rio Grande Valley and UIW. Seattle U will try to stay perfect in WAC play with a road game at San José State on Thursday and a home match against Houston Baptist on Saturday. Nationally-ranked Utah Valley will look to rebound from a 2-0 loss at Seattle U with home matches against CSU Bakersfield and UT Rio Grande Valley.
NATIONALLY RANKED
Utah Valley dropped out of the NSCAA Coaches Poll but is still among those receiving votes. The Wolverines are still among those ranked in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and College Soccer News Top 30, spending the week at 24th in both. Seattle U and Air Force are also receiving votes in the College Soccer News Top 30.
REPPING IN THE RPI
Despite the WAC-opening loss at Seattle U, Utah Valley remains among the top teams in the country as the Wolverines are ranked 15th in the latest NCAA RPI rankings. Seattle U moved up to 43rd while Air Force flew up to 55, an improvement of 24 spots, as both the Redhawks and Falcons look to keep themselves on the watch list for possible selection to the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
BEST IN THE WEST
The NSCAA West Region Rankings stayed identical through the top six as the three WAC schools represented stayed put. Utah Valley is ranked third, Seattle U is fourth and Air Force is sixth. Denver remains the region's top ranked team, followed by Loyola of Chicago.
FOR THE AGES
San José State's Rory Knibbs is just three points back of the all-time mark for points in WAC matches, set by Tulsa's Donivan Bradshaw from 1996 to 1999. He sits just one goal back of Bradshaw but he has company as UNLV's Danny Musovski is three goals back of Knibbs on the all-time WAC scoring list. SJSU's Jonathan Colunga is one assist back of SMU's Daniel Hernandez (1996-97) on the WAC assist list while CSU Bakersfield netminder Nicolas Clever is just seven saves away from tying Air Force keeper Rich Cullen (1996-98) for most saves all-time.
CONFERENCE CALL
As a conference, the WAC is third nationally in goals (140) and assists (126), trailing only the Atlantic Coast and the Big East. The WAC is also second in the nation in saves (429).
THANK YOU FANS
Grand Canyon is currently fifth nationally in attendance, having drawn an average of 3,077 fans in each of their five home matches. Utah Valley is 12th with and average of 2,468 fans in the Wolverines' first three 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.
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 10/2ist 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.