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KANSAS CITY'S HOWARD AND NM STATE'S FONG NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Kansas City's Lexie Howard and NM State's Dmitri Fong have been named the Western Athletic Conference Women's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Aug. 21-27.
Howard, a junior forward/midfielder from Kearney, Mo (Kearney High School), played a role in each of the three goals Kansas City produced this weekend. In the 2-0 victory over Illinois-Chicago on Friday, Howard assisted the game winner and scored the final goal of the match. Sunday against South Dakota State, she scored the game winner in the 1-0 win. Howard finished with eight shots and five points on the weekend.
Fong, a redshirt freshman goalkeeper from Albuquerque, N.M. (Cottonwood Classical Preparatory), tallied 12 saves for the weekend while shutting out both opponents. Friday was the first time in school history NM State won against rival New Mexico in their eight times meeting. Fong was a transfer from New Mexico and shut out her previous team with seven saves while facing 18 shots. Fong made five saves against Grambling State on Sunday. This is the second week in a row NM State has beaten a rival for the first time in program history as well as Fong receiving this recognition.
Other offensive nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Kamari Hines scored the game-winner against UTEP in double overtime on Sunday… Chicago State's Sara Marcotte scored the game-winner against Saint Xavier which snapped a 16 game losing streak… Grand Canyon's Madison Cox scored two goals in the 2-1 defeat over Weber State in overtime… NM State's Audriana Chavez scored the game-winning goal against rival New Mexico in the final seconds of the game for the first win in series history… Seattle U's Jennifer Plummer scored a goal and had an assist in the 3-0 defeat over Pacific… UT Rio Grande Valley's Jada MacLean scored the game-winning goal against Texas A&M- Corpus Christi in double overtime… Utah Valley's Sydney Fitzpatrick scored a goal against UNLV in the 2-1 double overtime loss.
Other defensive nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Jordan Bertram recorded nine saves on the weekend and tallied a shutout against UTEP in the double overtime victory… Chicago State's Audra Wisehart made two saves in the win against Saint Xavier and recorded four saves against Campbell… Grand Canyon's Blakely Fraasch made three saves in the 1-0 loss against Northern Arizona and had one save in the 2-1 overtime win against Weber State... Kansas City's Abby Small played every minute of both matches which helped her team shutout both Illinois-Chicago and South Dakota and led the defense to hold both opponents to 13 shots and five on goal combined… Seattle U's Stephanie Spiekerman led the defense to shutout their opponent for the first time this season in the 3-0 victory over Pacific… UTRGV's Erica Gonzalez made two saves in the double overtime shutout win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi… Utah Valley's Tori Smith played a key role in the defensive midfield position to shut down UNLV's and CSUN's offensive threats.
HISTORY BEING MADE
UT Rio Grande Valley and NM State are the only two teams left that are still undefeated after the second week of competition. Both teams and Chicago State are making history in their programs.
Since being a Division 1 program, UT Rio Grande Valley has made its strongest start with a 3-0-0 record going into week three of season. They have defeated Prairie View A&M 3-1, Sam Houston State 2-1, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1-0 in double overtime.
NM State also has put themselves in the record books with the best start in their program history going 4-0-1. They have defeated UTEP 2-1 in double overtime, New Mexico 1-0, Grambling State 1-0, and Alcorn State 8-0, as well as tied Northern Illinois 0-0 in double overtime. With this strong start, NM State has defeated two rivals (UTEP and New Mexico) for the first time in the series history. The team has also tied the program record of eight goals in a single match.
Chicago State has made history with their first shutout win since they have started the program in their 1-0 win over Saint Xavier. This win also was their first road win since 2014 and broke a 16 game losing streak.
FREE SOCCER
Out of the 14 games this past week, five matches went into overtime. Combined, this made for 53:12 minutes of free soccer. Out of the five overtime games, the results were in favor of the WAC going 3-2-0.
COMPETITION FROM 2016 NCAA TOURNAMENT
This past weekend two WAC teams faced opponents who extended their season last year in the NCAA Tournament. On Friday Utah Valley was defeated by UNLV 2-1 in double overtime and on Sunday Kansas City was victorious over South Dakota State 1-0.
WAC teams will play in seven more matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Two matches hosted by WAC schools will be available to stream on the WAC Digital Network at www.wacsports.com/watch.
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
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.