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UNLV'S MUSOVSKI, AF'S POLLARD NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
UNLV's Danny Musovski and Grand Canyon's Jeremy Pollard have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 18 - 24.
Musovski, a senior forward from Henderson, Nevada (Liberty HS), tied the UNLV and WAC record for goals in a game on Sunday, putting up four goals in a 5-1 rout of Oral Roberts. He completed his first career hat trick in the first half with goals in the sixth, 34th and 38th minute and then added the fourth in the 48th minute to tie the WAC record. The fourth goal also tied Musovski atop the WAC career scoring list, tying Tulsa's Donivan Bradley with 37 career scores. Musovski also added an assist on the Rebels' final goal to give him nine points on the day, setting a new WAC record for points in a game.
Pollard, a redshirt freshman goalkeeper from Sydney, Australia (Freshwater HS/Akron), made three saves to earn the shutout win in a 1-0 decision at home against Oral Roberts. He held the Golden Eagles scoreless in regulation and continued to keep the ball out of the net in overtime as the Lopes earned the extra-time win to improve to 3-1 at home this season. It was the second shutout of the season for Pollard, who also earned the clean sheet in a 1-0 win against Evansville on Sept. 7.
Other offensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Charlie Keating scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the Lopes' 1-0 win over Oral Roberts … Houston Baptist's Malik Key scored the game-winner in a 1-0 win on the road at UIW.
Other defensive nominees: Houston Baptist's Harrison Veith made a pair of saves in a 1-0 shutout win at UIW on Friday night.
UP NEXT
Conference play begins on Thursday night with Houston Baptist traveling to UNLV. On Friday night, CSU Bakersfield heads to Seattle U, UIW travels to 18th-ranked Air Force, San José State makes the trip to Utah Valley and UT Rio Grande Valley plays at Kansas City. Sunday features a full slate of games with San José State going to Seattle U, UIW playing at Kansas City, Utah Valley heading west to take on CSU Bakersfield, UT Rio Grande Valley making the trip to No. 18 Air Force and Houston Baptist visiting Grand Canyon. The top seven teams in the conference table at the end of the 10-game schedule will qualify for the 2017 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament on Nov. 8, 10 and 12 in Las Vegas.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Following the completion of non-conference play, Seattle U leads the WAC in shots (164), goals (13), goals per game (1.62) and corner kicks (58). Grand Canyon is tops in points (38) and assists (14) while Air Force is the top defensive team, leading the WAC in least goals allowed (3), goals against average (0.36) and shutouts (6). Kansas City has the most saves with 41.
Individually, SU's Alex Roldan has a league-high 39 shots. UNLV's Danny Musovski leads the league in points (12) and is tied with San José State's Jeremy Romero and SU's Cody Gibson for the lead in goals with five. Six players are tied for the lead in assists with three each while SU's Gibson has three game-winning goals to lead the WAC. Houston Baptist's Harrison Veith leads the league in goals against average (0.45) and save percentage (.875). UMKC's Filippo Errico is the leader in saves with 38 while AF's John Wendt and SU's Josh Adachi are tied for the lead in shutouts with four each.
ON THE MAP
Air Force moved up in three polls this week and will enter conference play ranked 18th in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, 22nd in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and 26th in the College Soccer News Top 30. Seattle U is also among those in the national picture, ranked 20th in the CSN Top 30 and second among those receiving votes in the USC Top 25.
MUSOVSKI HITS THE JACKPOT
UNLV senior forward Danny Musovski had a match to remember on Sept. 24 against Oral Roberts, scoring four goals and assisting on another to tie the WAC record for goals in a game and set a new conference mark for points in the match with nine.
STORM CHASERS
After seeing Hurricane Harvey force the cancellation of the season opening HBU Invitational, Houston Baptist again saw a major storm affect their game schedule. The Huskies were scheduled to play in a tournament in Savannah and Statesboro, Ga. but Hurricane Irma forced alternative plans. HBU still got a pair of games in, falling 1-0 at Georgia Southern before heading to North Carolina for a 3-1 win at Gardner-Webb.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Seattle U's saw a 21-game home win streak come to an end on Sept. 24 in a 2-0 loss to rival Washington.
BEST IN THE WEST
The WAC continues to hold the top two spots in the United Soccer Coaches West Region poll. Air Force is ranked number one while Seattle U is number two. Houston Baptist makes its season debut at nine while Utah Valley rounds out the poll at 10.
GIVE THE FANS WHAT THEY CAME TO SEE
The 4,351 fans that showed up at Clyde Field on opening night to watch Utah Valley defeat Akron, 1-0, is the ninth-largest crowd in NCAA Division I men's soccer this season as the Wolverines rank seventh nationally in attendance with an average of 2,514. Grand Canyon ranks 12th in average attendance at 2,124. UNLV also played in front of a large crowd on opening night as 4,385 fans game to Merlo Field to see the Rebels knock off host Portland, 3-2, in double overtime.
REWRITING HISTORY
UNLV senior forward Danny Musovski became the new career leader for the most points in WAC men's soccer history with a nine-point game on Sept. 24 against Oral Roberts. The big game also brought him into a time with Tulsa's Donivan Bradshaw (1996-99) for career goals with 37. Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson is five goals back of Musovski and Bradshaw with 32 goals in his Lopes career, which ties him for third all-time with New Mexico's Justin Sells (1996-97). Musovski is also tied with San José State's Adriano Allain for third on the career assists list with 19 while Johnson's 188 shots rank him behind former teammate Alberto Sanchez-Garcia (2013-15), who finished his career with 210.
UPSET CITY
The WAC opened up the 2017 season with five matches against teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and picked up three wins while falling in double-overtime in a fourth. Utah Valley earned a 1-0 win over 16th-ranked Akron on Friday night. Air Force outlasted 23rd-ranked Florida Gulf Coast, 3-2, on Sunday while Seattle U extended its 18-match home winning streak with a 1-0 win over 20th-ranked New Mexico. Grand Canyon played 14th-ranked Creighton tough in Omaha before falling 1-0 in double-overtime.
UNLV PICKED TO WIN 2017 TITLE
UNLV is the preseason favorite to win the 2017 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer title in a vote of the league's 11 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.
The Rebels collected five first place votes and 90 total points to take the top spot. Defending regular season champion Utah Valley earned three first place votes and was just a point back at 89 to earn the second spot while Seattle U earned the remaining three first place votes to total 87 points for third. 2016 tournament finalist Air Force was picked fourth with 72 points followed closely by Grand Canyon in fifth with 70 points. CSU Bakersfield was sixth with 54 points and San José State was selected seventh, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley in eighth and UIW in ninth. Houston Baptist and Kansas City tied for 10th to round out the poll.
AUNE, MUSOVSKI HIGHLIGHT PRESEASON ALL-WAC SQUAD
UNLV forward Danny Musovski and Seattle U defender Nathan Aune were selected as WAC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's 11 head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
Musovski is joined on the Preseason All-WAC squad by midfielder teammate Timo Mehlich while Aune is joined by midfielder teammate Sergio Rivas. Air Force has three players as forward Austin Dewing, midfielder Tucker Bone and goalkeeper John Wendt were all honored. Utah Valley had a pair selected as forward Paul Hoffmeister joined defender Giovanny Vazquez on the squad. Grand Canyon forward Niki Jackson and CSU Bakersfield defender Jamie Carey-Morrell rounded out the 11-member team.
THREE NAMED TO MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST
Utah Valley's Paul Hoffmeister, Grand Canyon's Niki Jackson and UNLV's Danny Musovski are among those on the watch list for the 2017 Missouri Athletic Club's (MAC) Hermann Trophy. Hoffmeister was a third-team All-American as a junior, Jackson was the 2016 WAC Offensive Player of the Year and Musovski earned 2016 WAC Tournament MVP honors.
HOFFMEISTER, MUSOVSKI NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA
A pair of WAC men's soccer players will open the year as preseason All-Americans as Utah Valley's Paul Hoffmeister was named a first team selection and UNLV's Danny Musovski earned second team honors by College Soccer News. The duo was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XII Third Team.
READY TO ROLL
After playing through a four-year transition period to NCAA Division I, both Grand Canyon and UIW are eligible for the postseason this year. The Lopes are predicted to finish fifth in the regular season while the Cardinals are ninth in the preseason coaches poll.
LUCKY SEVEN
With all 11 men's soccer teams eligible for the postseason in 2017, the WAC tournament field has expanded from six teams to seven teams. The tournament also added an extra rest day between the first round and semifinal round. The regular season champion and top seed will receive the only bye in the tournament, with the other teams beginning play on Wednesday, Nov. 8 in Las Vegas. Semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 10 with the championship game set for 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12.
PLAYING THE BEST
The WAC has 23 non-conference games against participants from the 2016 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. UNLV, a 2016 postseason participant itself, is one of three schools to play four NCAA participants, making trips to Portland, New Mexico and UCLA and hosting Pacific. Utah Valley has four non-conference matches against postseason participants, hosting Akron and CSUN and traveling to San Diego State and Washington. Seattle U also has four with home games against New Mexico, Mercer and Washington and a road trip to Portland. San José State opens the season hosting defending national champion Stanford and will travel to both CSUN and Pacific. Grand Canyon will travel to Creighton and Pacific and host CSUN. UT Rio Grande Valley takes on Loyola Chicago on a neutral field at Northern Illinois before returning home to take on San Diego State later in the season. UIW will also face San Diego State in Edinburg. Air Force takes on Florida Gulf Coast at home while CSU Bakersfield travels to Pacific.
COMING SOON
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 2022-2023 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) during 2016-2017 season.
ON THE AIR
The WAC Digital Network will broadcast 88 regular season games and all six games of the expanded 2017 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament in Las Vegas.