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WAC WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK ANNOUNCED
NM State's Aileen Galicia and UT Rio Grande Valley's Evelyn Powell have been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Sept. 5-11.
Galicia, a sophomore from Indio, Calif. (La Quinta HS), scored the first hat trick of the WAC women's soccer season in a 3-0 victory over Idaho State. If only took Galicia 51 minutes of action to bag her three goals. Her five goals this season tie her total for 2015 (freshman) with 11 matches remaining in the regular-season. Her six points in the match is the most for NM State since 2014 when Jennae Cambra rattled off two goals and two assists at Chicago State. Her hat trick was also just the second one ever in program history. Yolanda McMillion was the only other player to record a hat trick, knocking in three of her own back on Aug. 29, 2010, against Prairie View A&M in an 8-0 win.
Powell, a senior from Abingdon, MD (Harford Community College), anchored a defense that allowed no goals on the weekend and earned two victories. Powell missed the first two matches of season due to illness, but since her return UTRGV hasn't allowed a goal. She played the first half only on Friday, during which time St. Thomas had zero quality scoring chances. St. Thomas had multiple opportunities in second half with Powell off the field. She played all 90 minutes Sunday, keeping TAMUCC from getting good looks at the goal and anchoring a defense that hasn't allowed a goal in 470 minutes, which is a school record.
Other offensive nominees included: Grand Canyon junior defender McKenzie Cook finished the week with four shots, four shots on goal and one goal … Seattle U senior forward Brie Hooks scored her fourth goal of the season against Idaho … UTRGV junior forward Andreya Barrera scored two goals in two matches, including her third game-winning goal of the season … Utah Valley freshman midfielder Breanna DeWaal led the Wolverines with five shots in a pair of road matches at Wyoming and Colorado College last week.
Other defensive nominees included: GCU junior goalkeeper Blakely Fraasch picked up her third shutout of the season against UIC … NM State sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Martin didn't allow a goal in 172:21 minutes of action this weekend after checking into the Weber State game in the 8th minute and earning a shutout victory over Idaho State … Utah Valley senior defender Kalli Suesue anchored the UVU defense that gave up just two goals over two matches on the week.
GETTING TRICKY
NM State's Aileen Galicia became the first player in the WAC to record a hat trick this season against Idaho State. It only took the sophomore 51 minutes to tally her three goals. Her five goals this season tie her total for 2015 with 11 matches remaining in the regular-season. Her six points in the match is the most for NM State since 2014 when Jennae Cambra rattled off two goals and two assists at Chicago State. Her hat trick was also just the second one ever in program history. Yolanda McMillion was the only other player to record a hat trick, knocking in three of her own back on Aug. 29, 2010, against Prairie View A&M in an 8-0 win.
GOOSE EGGS
UTRGV hasn't allowed a goal in five consecutive matches, a streak of 470 minutes, since allowing an overtime tally by Fairleigh Dickinson on Aug. 22. UTRGV began the streak with shutout wins over Lamar and Prairie View A&M, then tied Incarnate Word 0-0 in 110 minutes of action, before defeating St. Thomas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. After holding St. Thomas scoreless for the first 37:21 of action on Friday, the Vaqueros set a new program record for longest shutout streak in program history, as last year's squad held opponents scoreless for 327:20 minutes over the course of four games.
Freshman goalkeeper Kinga Szemik has not allowed a goal in her first three career appearances, all coming during the shutout streak.
UTAH VALLEY NO. 9 IN NSCAA WEST REGION
Utah Valley claimed the No. 9 in the NSCAA West Region rankings. The Wolverines dropped two one-goal decisions on the road last week, but only dropped one position in the poll. SU fell out of the rankings after earning the No. 10 spot last week.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
With a 2-1 victory over UNLV on Sept. 1, Utah Valley extended its home unbeaten streak to 11 matches. UVU hasn't been defeated at Clyde Field since Nov. 1, 2014, falling 2-0 to Seattle U in the final regular season match of the season. The Wolverines are 10-0-1 in matches played during the streak. UVU is out of town for both matches this upcoming weekend and will look to extend the streak on Sept. 16 against in-state rival Utah, a match that will be available on the WAC Digital Network.
NOT SO SUDDEN DEATH
UMKC's 1-1 draw against Creighton on Aug. 21 marks the 17th-straight game that went to overtime for the 'Roos that they have either won or tied. The last time UMKC lost in overtime was a 2-1 loss at Missouri State on Sept. 16, 2011.
COMING TO YOU LIVE
The WAC Digital Network will broadcast 27 regular season matches and all five matches of the 2016 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
This week there are three matches on the WDN:
Sept. 16: Utah Valley hosts Utah, 7 p.m. MT
Sept. 18: Seattle U hosts Gonzaga, 12 p.m. PT
Sept. 18: Grand Canyon hosts Oklahoma, 1 p.m. PT
Sept. 18: CSU Bakersfield hosts Idaho, 1 p.m. PT
Tune in to catch the matches live at www.WACSports.com/live.
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. 22 Fairleigh Dickinson def. UTRGV, 3-2 (OT) (WDN)
Aug. 22 No. 2 Arizona def. Utah Valley, 5-1
Aug. 28 San Jose State def. Seattle U (Boise, Idaho), 1-0
Aug. 28 No. 25 Loyola Marymount def. CSU Bakersfield, 4-1
Sept. 4 Oakland def. Chicago State, 5-0
Sept. 5 Washington def. Seattle U, 1-0 (WDN)
Sept. 15 Seattle U at Washington State, 5 p.m. PT
Sept. 16 UMKC at South Dakota State, 6 p.m. CT
2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Women's Soccer Tournament will be held in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 3-4 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).