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2016 WAC PRESEASON POLL AND AWARDS
Utah Valley and Seattle U are co-favorites to win the 2016 Western Athletic Conference women's soccer title as determined by a vote of the league's eight head coaches.
SU and UVU each received four first-place votes and three second-place votes for 46 total points. It was a fitting result, as the teams were even at the top of the standings much of last season. The Redhawks claimed the regular season title with a victory over UVU in the final match of the season, while the Wolverines got revenge with a win in the championship match of the WAC Tournament to claim the title and the automatic NCAA berth.
UMKC sophomore forward Lexie Howard garnered Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors and Utah Valley senior defender Kalli Suesue was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
WAC REGULAR SEASON FORMAT
Each WAC team will play a single round robin format of seven matches vs. conference opponents. Conference play will begin on Friday Oct. 7 and continue through Oct. 29. Teams will get three points for a win and one point for a tie during WAC matches.
2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Men's Soccer Tournament will be held in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 53-4 and 6, hosted by UMKC. The top six eligible teams will participate (Grand Canyon is ineligible due to its transition from Division II to Division I).
2015 WAC RECORDS
11 WAC season and single match records were tied or set during the 2015 season:
-Seattle U tied the WAC record for wins in conference play with eight, equalling three teams (2014 SU, 2014 UMKC, 2001 SMU).
-The Redhawks set the record for most shutouts in conference play with eight.
-Seattle U's Brianna Smallidge's seven shutouts and eight wins during WAC play both are the most in WAC history.
-CSU Bakersfield's Haley Vicente and Grand Canyon's Deseree Doty, both freshmen, scored four goals in a WAC match, tying a conference record with four others.
-UMKC attempted 60 shots against Chicago State on Sept. 25 to top the old record in WAC play by 12.
-UMKC fired 243 shots during conference play, topping the 2014 ‘Roos' previous record of 228.
-Chicago State made 25 saves against Green Bay on Sept. 11, the most in one match in WAC history. The Cougars also made 22 saves against UMKC on Sept. 25, tied for the most in a conference match.
-Chicago State's 237 saves overall on the season set a WAC record, as well as the 119 saves during conference play, both topping CSU marks set last year.
NCAA OPPONENTS
WAC teams will play in eight matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Both matches hosted by WAC schools will be available to stream on the WAC Digital Network at www.WACSports.com/watch.
Aug. 21 Fairleigh Dickinson at UTRGV, 11 a.m. CT (WDN)
Aug. 21 Utah Valley at Arizona, 6 p.m. PT
Aug. 28 San Jose State vs. Seattle U (Boise, Idaho), 11 a.m. PT
Aug. 28 CSU Bakersfield at Loyola Marymount, 1 p.m. PT
Sept. 4 Chicago State at Oakland, 1 p.m. ET
Sept. 5 Washington at Seattle U, 7 p.m. PT (WDN)
Sept. 15 Seattle U at Washington State, 5 p.m. PT
Sept. 16 UMKC at South Dakota State, 6 p.m. CT
2016 NCAA COLLEGE CUP
The 35th Annual Women's College Cup will be held at Wakemed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., Dec. 2 and 4. Last year's WAC champs, the Utah Valley, came up just short in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Wolverines lost a a hard-fought 1-0 decision to 13th-ranked BYU on Nov. 14 in front of 3,663 fans at South Field.
The loss wrapped up a record-setting and historic season for Utah Valley (14-7-1), which won a school-record 14 matches and won its first-ever WAC Tournament championship.