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UTAH VALLEY WINS 2017 WAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
WAC No. 2 seed Utah Valley refused to give up until the final whistle was blown and it was freshman Siri Dahl who left her feet with 82 seconds left in the match to produce the game-tying goal. After two overtime periods, neither team could find the back of the net so the title was decided by a shootout where Utah Valley found the back of the net three times compared to Seattle U's one. The Wolverines earned a spot in the championship match with a 1-0 victory over host Grand Canyon on Friday after having a bye on Wednesday.
DEWAAL HIGHLIGHS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Breanna DeWaal earned tournament MVP honors for the first time to highlight the 2017 WAC Women's Soccer All-Tournament team. The sophomore midfielder was joined by teammates Sydney Fitzpatrick, Breanna McCarter and Brookly Nielsen. Seattle U was represented by Natasha Howe, Madeline Racine and Stephanie Spiekerman. Kansas City and Grand Canyon each had two players with Nikki Lynch and Sydni Young representing the Roos and McKenzie Cook and Mikaela McGee representing the Lopes.
LET'S TALK NUMBERS
NM State leads the WAC with 42 goals and 120 points while Utah Valley is on top of the leader board with 335 shots, 153 corner kicks and 39 assists. Kansas City has the most shutouts with 11 and has the best goals against average (0.79).
Individually, Kansas City's Lexie Howard leads the league with twelve goals on the season as well as game-winning goals with six. NM State's Devin Hart leads with nine assists and 31 points. Kansas City's Erin Roth has the best goals against average with 0.43 NM State's Dmitri Fong leads the league with 106 saves. Roth and Fong both have five shutouts. Chicago State's Gabby Klemp leads the nation in saves per game (9.36).
In WAC matches only, Utah Valley led with 119 shots and is tied with UT Rio Grande Valley and Kansas City with 16 assists. Chicago State led the conference with 77 saves in conference play while Kansas City recorded a conference best six shutouts. Kansas City also led with 20 goals in just seven games.
Individually in the WAC, NM State's Aileen Galicia led the conference with seven goals and 18 points. UT Rio Grande Valley's Tuva Nilsen led with five assists and Grand Canyon's McKenzie Cook took a conference best of 29 shots. NM State's Dmitri Fong recorded 50 saves and Kansas City's Erin Roth tallied three shutouts.
TAKING ON THE BEST
After defeating the host in the semifinals and a last minute game-tying goal and a shootout victory in the finals, the Utah Valley Wolverines learned their postseason fate and they will head to California to take on No. 1 seed Stanford in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.
The Wolverines and Cardinal will meet up at the Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. PT.
The Wolverines last trip to the NCAA Tournament came in 2015 as Utah Valley fell to BYU in the first round, 1-0.
SOCCER SMARTS
Five WAC women's soccer teams have been honored by the United Soccer Coaches for success in the classroom, posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher in 2016-17.
CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, Kansas City, UT Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley represented the WAC on the list of 531 women's teams spanning all divisions. This is CSU Bakersfield's sixth time receiving this honor with the first one dating back to 2009. Grand Canyon has claimed it all four years they have been with the WAC as well as the season before. Kansas City has been honored with the award seven times dating back to 2010. This is the third year in a row for UT Rio Grande Valley and the fourth time for Utah Valley to be recognized.
A total of 813 soccer teams (282 men, 531 women) from throughout the United States have earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for exemplary performance in the classroom as a team during the 2016-17 academic year. Among these programs are 195 schools receiving honors for both their men and women's teams.
To qualify for the award, the team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of players.
WAC 2016-17 Women's College Team Academic Award Winners
CSU Bakersfield, Gary Curneen, 3.16
Grand Canyon University, Derek Leader, 3.61
Kansas City, Chris Cissell, 3.46
UT Rio Grande Valley, Glad Bugariu, 3.59
Utah Valley University, Chris Lemay, 3.55
CSU BAKERSFIELD'S GREEN SHOWING SOME “CLASSâ€
CSU Bakersfield women's soccer student-athlete Maja Green was one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Green will graduate this spring with a degree in business administration. She currently holds a 3.62 cumulative grade-point average and is on pace to graduate cum laude. She has earned Academic All-WAC honors in each of her first three seasons at CSU Bakersfield and is expected to complete her fourth season with the honor as well.
Green has been at the heart of every community service event in which the team has been involved. Whether it's reading in schools or coaching young players at clinics, she goes above and beyond to make it the best experience for everyone. As a captain, she also has helped the team organize events in the community and communicate the importance of them.
Even as a defender, Green ranks on the school's top 20 all-time list in career points and goals. She is on pace to break the CSUB Division I record for matches started and minutes played. She has been a constant fixture on the CSUB back line and has helped the Roadrunner defense transform into a formidable wall. Prior to her arrival at CSUB, the 2013 squad allowed its opponents to score nearly three times as many goals. A year ago, with Green leading the effort, the ‘Runners narrowed the gap to only five goals difference. She has been honored by the WAC several times including first team All-WAC (2016), second team All-WAC (2014) and being named preseason All-WAC twice in her career.
Unfortunately, she wasn't chosen to be one of the ten finalists.