Complete Release in PDF Format
UTRGV'S FRANKMAN, SJSU'S PARTIDA NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
UT Rio Grande Valley's Frederik Frankman and San José State's Jonathan Partida have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 24 - 30.
Frankman, a junior midfielder from Copenhagen, Denmark (Falkonergaardens Gymnasium), scored the insurance goal on a free kick in a 2-0 win over Incarnate Word on Thursday night. He followed that up with a bicycle kick off a corner kick for the game-tying goal against Air Force on Saturday. His three goals and seven points lead UTRGV this season as the Vaqueros remain in the running for a spot at the upcoming WAC Tournament in Orem, Utah.
Partida, a sophomore midfielder from Newark, Calif. (Newark Memorial HS), played the defensive center midfield position in a pair of road wins at Air Force and UMKC. Against Air Force, he helped to lead the defense in shutting down a talented Falcon offense, holding Air Force without a shot on goal. At UMKC, Partida and the Spartans limited the Roos to just six shots on the night, including just three on goal. With the two wins, SJSU still has a chance at qualifying for the upcoming WAC Tournament.
Other offensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson scored a goal and assisted on another in Sunday's 2-1 win over CSU Bakersfield ... San José State's Suliman Khorami had a pair of assists as the Spartans earned a pair of road wins to keep their tournament hopes alive … Seattle U's Alex Roldan scored the game-winning goal in Thursday's win over UNLV … Utah Valley's Paul Hoffmeister assisted on the game-winner against Grand Canyon and scored the game-winner against UNLV to keep the Wolverines perfect at home.
Other defensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Kendyl Day made five saves in each of the Lopes' matches on the week as GCU went 1-1 … Seattle U's Nathan Aune contributed to a strong defensive effort in SU's 4-1 win over UNLV … UT Rio Grande Valley's Esa Aalto recorded a shutout against UIW and made a career-high seven saves in a tie against Air Force … Utah Valley's Alex Neff led UVU to a pair of home wins to move the Wolverines into first place in the conference standings.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Grand Canyon is the WAC-leader in shots (264) while Air Force continues to lead the league in points (112), goals (39) and assists (34). Utah Valley has allowed a WAC-low 13 goals this season and has the top goals against average (0.72). San José State leads the WAC in saves with 92.
Individually, GCU's Niki Jackson leads the conference in shots (68), points (32) and goals (15). UVU's Aaron Meyer has a WAC-high nine assists while SU's Alex Roldan leads the league with six game-winning goals. UVU's Mitch Jensen holds the top goals against average (0.33) and Seattle U's Jordan Hadden leads the conference in save percentage (.865). SJSU's Nedin Tucakovic has a WAC-high 88 saves this season.
In conference-only play, Grand Canyon is the leader in shots (157). Seattle U leads in points (66), goals (22), assists (22), goals against average (0.53) and are tied with Utah Valley for least-goals allowed (5). Houston Baptist leads the WAC with 55 saves in conference play and UVU's five shutouts are tied with the 1996 SMU team for most in the conference season.
Individually, GCU's Jackson finished WAC-play with 44 shots, 19 points and nine goals, all WAC-bests this season. Seattle U's Jeff Rose, HBU's Darrell Johnson and UVU's Meyer have all assisted on five goals in WAC play for the league lead. UVU's Jense has the top goals against average in league play at 0.38 while SU's Hadden has the top save percentage at .865. HBU's Chance Pope has a WAC-high 52 saves in league play.
EXTRA TIME
With just one week left to play in the regular season, it looks to be an exciting Saturday around the WAC. Utah Valley can clinch the regular season title with a win over UIW or a little help from Air Force, who plays host to Seattle. UNLV will be rooting for SU as the Rebels currently sit in line for the fourth seed but could slide into the third seed with a win over UMKC and a SU win at Air Force. UTRGV travels to San José State and Houston Baptist heads to CSU Bakersfield will all four teams battling for the final two spots in the WAC Tournament on Nov. 10-13 in Orem, Utah.
NATIONALLY RANKED
Utah Valley moved up two spots in the NSCAA Coaches' Top 25, entering the top-20 at 19th. The Wolverines are also 15th in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and 16th in the College Soccer News Top 30. Seattle U is among those receiving votes in both the NSCAA Top 25 and CSN Top 30.
REPPING IN THE RPI
Utah Valley remains among the nations' best in the latest RPI rankings, sitting at 25. Seattle U is also making sure they are on the radar of the NCAA selection committee, sitting at 53.
BEST IN THE WEST
Utah Valley remains third, Seattle U remains fourth and Air Force remains sixth in the latest NSCAA West Region Rankings. Denver is the top ranked team in the region, followed by Loyola-Chicago.
ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN
Utah Valley's 15 wins this season are tied with Maryland for the most in the country this season.
SOCCER SMARTS
Six men's soccer players from the Western Athletic Conference have been recognized for success in the classroom, being honored as Academic All-District selections by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Utah Valley led the way with four players selected. Junior defender Chandler Baddley, senior defender Alex Neff, junior midfielder Paul Hoffmeister and junior midfielder Karson Payton represented the Wolverines. Hoffmeister was also honored as an All-District selection last fall.
Houston Baptist defender Bryan Brody was also recognized for a second-straight season while Seattle U's Sam Langston represented the Redhawks.
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 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 all-time WAC leader in saves with 221 overall and 115 in WAC play. UNLV's Danny Musovski has the most points in conference play with 44 whilt Utah Valley sophomore Aaron Meyer has 12 WAC-assists, also a historical best. UIW's Ben Conway leads all players all-time with 114 shots in WAC games.
CONFERENCE CALL
As a conference, the WAC is second nationally in goals (252) and assists (234), trailing only the Atlantic Coast Conference. The WAC is also third in the nation in saves (746).
THANK YOU FANS
Grand Canyon is currently eighth nationally in attendance, drawing an average of 2,508 fans in each of their home matches this season. Utah Valley is 15th with an average of 1,817 fans in the Wolverines' eight 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 10/31ist 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.