Complete Release in PDF Format | 2017 WAC Women's Soccer Record Book
2017 WAC PRESEASON POLL AND AWARDS
Seattle U was selected by the league's head coaches as favorite to win 2017 WAC women's soccer competition.
SU took the top spot on the preseason rankings with seven first-place votes for 49 points. Kansas City grabbed the final first-place vote which brought their total to 36 to take second place. Third place was taken by Grand Canyon with 34 points, while Utah Valley and CSU Bakersfield grabbed the same amount of points, 32, to tie for fourth place. UTRGV was voted sixth, followed by NM State and Chicago State.
SU defender Stephanie Spiekerman was voted Preseason Defensive Player of the Year while CSU Bakersfield's midfielder Sabrina Delgado took the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honor.
The preseason all-conference team showed diversity with six of the eight teams being represented. Seattle U had players on both offensive and defensive sides of the ball with forward Natasha Howe and defenders Hannah Carrothers and Spierkerman elected to the team. Grand Canyon also had three players who were stretched throughout the field as forward Milla Benedetti, defender Madison Cox and goalkeeper Blakely Fraasch were elected as part of the lineup. Kansas City was represented by two of their midfielders in Reighan Childers and Lexie Howard. Utah Valley midfielder Breanna DeWaal, CSUB's Delgado and UTRGV's forward Sarah Bonney rounded out the rest of the 11-player roster.
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. 6 and continue through Oct. 28. Teams will get three points for a win and one point for a tie during WAC matches.
2017 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Women's Soccer Tournament will be held in Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 1, 3 and 5, hosted by Grand Canyon. The top six eligible teams will participate. This will be the first year Grand Canyon is eligible after their transition to Division 1.
NO MORE WAITING
Grand Canyon is finally done with their four season wait and is now eligible for post season play. Since joining the WAC in 2013, Grand Canyon has consistently shown they can compete while never finding themselves lower than fourth in the ranks at the end of each season. Along with this eligibility, Grand Canyon was chosen to host this upcoming WAC tournament and is eligible to play in the NCAA tournament.
UP AND COMING
California Baptist is scheduled to join the WAC for 2018-2019 competition. They will begin their four year transition process to Division 1. This will make them ineligible to compete in post season tournaments (WAC and NCAA) until 2023-2024 season. They will be coming from the Pacific West Conference where they won five championships (M&W Cross Country, W. Basketball, W. Golf, and Softball) this past 2016-2017 season.
2017 PERSONNEL CAPSULE
From the 2016 season, almost every team will return a majority of starters in 2017. Utah Valley lost the most with five but will be bringing in eight new players. Kansas City has the most starters returning with ten and bringing in seven new student-athletes. 2016 tournament and regular season champions, Seattle U, is bringing back eight starters and losing only five letterwinners.
| Team |
LR |
LL |
SR |
SL |
New |
| CSU Bakersfield |
18 |
8 |
8 |
3 |
11 |
| Chicago State |
12 |
13 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
| Grand Canyon |
13 |
12 |
8 |
3 |
11 |
| Kansas City |
13 |
5 |
10 |
2 |
7 |
| NM State |
19 |
6 |
8 |
3 |
9 |
| Seattle U |
18 |
5 |
8 |
3 |
6 |
| UT Rio Grande Valley |
18 |
5 |
8 |
2 |
8 |
| Utah Valley |
19 |
8 |
7 |
5 |
8 |
NCAA OPPONENTS
WAC teams will play in 12 matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Three matches hosted by WAC schools will be available to stream on the WAC Digital Network at www.wacsports.com/watch.
Aug. 18 Grand Canyon vs Texas Tech (at New Mexico), 4 p.m. MT
Aug. 20 Kansas City at Oklahoma State, 1 p.m. CT
Aug. 20 Utah Valley vs Houston Baptist (at Hawaii), 2:30 HT
Aug. 25 Utah Valley at UNLV, 7 p.m. PT
Aug. 27 South Dakota State at Kansas City, 1 p.m. CT (WDN)
Sept. 8 UT Rio Grande Valley at Houston Baptist, 7 p.m. CT
Sept. 11 Santa Clara at Seattle U, 3 p.m. PT (WDN)
Sept. 15 UNLV at CSU Bakersfield, 7 p.m. PT (WDN)
Sept. 22 Utah Valley at BYU, 7 p.m. MT
Sept. 29 NM State at SMU, 5 p.m. CT
Sept. 29 Kansas City at Illinois State, 7 p.m. CT
Oct. 2 Utah Valley at Texas A&M, 7 p.m. CT
2017 NCAA COLLEGE CUP
The 36th Annual Women's College Cup will be held at Orlando City Stadium, Orlando, Fl., December 1 and 3. Last year's WAC champs, Seattle U, came up just short in their third appearance in four years to the NCAA Tournament. The Redhawks let in one goal per half to 18th ranked UCLA resulting in a 2-0 loss on Nov. 11 at Drake Stadium.
The loss wrapped up the season for the Redhawks. However, they continue their undefeated reputation in regular season conference play dating back to their 1-0 fall to Grand Canyon on Oct. 10, 2014 due to a goal in the 88th minute off of a corner kick.
COLLEGE CUP DATES
First Round (64)
Nov. 10-12, 2017
On campus sites TBD
Second Round (32)
Nov. 17, 2017
On campus sites TBD
Third Round (16)
Nov. 29, 2017
On campus sites TBD
Quarterfinals (8)
Nov. 24-25, 2017
On campus sites TBD
Women's College Cup
Dec. 1 and 3, 2017
Orlando City Stadium
Orlando, Fl.
COMING TO YOU LIVE
The WAC Diginal Network will broadcast over 60 games this season including all five games of the 2017 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona.