This Week in WAC Women's Soccer - Oct. 8
This Week in WAC Women's Soccer - Oct. 8
CBU'S BADAWIYA AND UTRGV'S SZEMIK NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
California Baptist's Rola Badawiya and UT Rio Grande Valley's Kinga Szemik were selected as the Western Athletic Conference Women's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Sept. 30-Oct. 6, respectively.
Badawiya, a junior forward from Riverside, Calif., led her team to a pair of road wins, making the Lancers the only conference team to emerge undefeated after the first weekend of league play. Badawiya opened the weekend with a five-point effort as she managed an assist and a goal in a 3-1 win over CSU Bakersfield. She then recorded her second goal of the weekend as the Lancers bested NM State 1-0. Badawiya's two-goal weekend brings her season total to seven goals, making her the league's second-leading goal scorer.
Szemik, a senior goalkeeper from Pietrzykowice, Bielsko, Poland, played all 200 minutes between the sticks for UT Rio Grande Valley as they managed a 1-0-1 record on the weekend. Szemik nabbed seven saves in a double-overtime battle with Kansas City that eventually led to a tie. The netminder recorded a .889 save percentage across two matches for the Vaqueros. She also picked up her fourth shutout of the season in a home win over Grand Canyon. This marks the second player of the week selection for the Preseason All-WAC First Team goalkeeper.
Other offensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Raeanne Jones picked up her first career goal as she netted a game-winner against NM State... Holly Rothering of Seattle U saw two shots reach the back of the net as she led her team to a 4-1 win over Chicago State... UT Rio Grande Valley's Shentatious Knox recorded the Vaqueros lone goal in a 1-1 tie with conference leader Kansas City... Jenna Shepherd of Utah Valley netted two goals in a comeback effort that fell just short on the road against CSU Bakersfield.
Other defensive nominees: California Baptist's Romy Salvador went 2-0 on the weekend and recorded her second shutout of the season... Grand Canyon's Hannah Edwards notched her first career assist and anchored the Lopes backline in a victory over NM State... Erin Roth of Kansas City recorded a season-high five saves in a 1-1 draw as UT Rio Grande Valley took the Roos to double overtime.
BY THE NUMBERS
After the opening weekend of conference play, UT Rio Grande Valley leads the league in shots taken (195). California Baptist sits atop the league in goals scored (22) and points (58). Meanwhile, Kansas City leads the conference in assists (15). Chicago State leads the league in saves (96). Kansas City has allowed the fewest goals (8) and remains the league leader in goals-against average (.580).
For the second consecutive week, Kansas City's Rylan Childers leads the league in every major offensive category as she is out front in shots (45), goals (8), points (22) and assists (6). Judith Sorribes of Chicago State is the league leader in saves (84). Of goalies that have played in one-third of their teams minutes, Kansas City's Erin Roth holds the best goals-against average (0.62).
NEARING A MILESTONE
Seattle U's head coach Julie Woodward is approaching her 300th career victory as a head coach. The long-time Seattle U head coach currently sits at 299 wins. The Redhawks will have an opportunity to place Woodward among an elite group of coaches as they take on CSU Bakersfield and New Mexico State this weekend.
Woodward is in her 23rd season at the helm of the Redhawk women's soccer program. She has led SU to four WAC regular-season titles, four WAC Championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances since 2013.
ALONE ON TOP
With one week of conference play in the books, California Baptist is the only school who picked up a win in both of their opening matches. With victories over CSU Bakersfield and NM State, thier six points paces the conference. The Lancers posted a plus three combined goal differential in the first two league games. The hot start may come as a surprise to some, as CBU was selected to finish seventh in the conference according to the 2019 Preseason Coaches Poll.
KC'S SMALL NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD® CANDIDATE
Kansas City senior defender Abby Small has been selected as one of 30 women's candidates for the Senior CLASS Award®. The total list of candidates is comprised of 60 NCAA men's and women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field.
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.
Small, a two time Academic All-WAC selection, was selected to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region second team in 2018. As an electrical and computer engineering major, Small currently has a 3.64 cumulative GPA.
Small exemplifies leadership on and off the field as one of the SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) and SALC (Student-Athlete Leadership Council) leaders and representatives for Kansas City. Through SALC, Small volunteers with Children's Mercy Hospital and donates to the Greater KC Boys & Girls Club.
Academically, Small is a member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), a member of SWE (Society of Women Engineers) and a member of Engineers without Borders.
Starting 67 of a possible 68 games in which she has played, Small has proved to be an anchor on the Roos strong defense. A two-time All-WAC First Team selection, Small was named the Preseason WAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. She is a part of a Kansas City team that is coming off its second consecutive WAC regular-season title. At the time of nomination, Small and the Kansas City defense was ranked 44th in the nation in goals-against average (.547).
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.
The group of 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season. Those 10 finalists will be placed on an official ballot that is distributed through a nationwide voting system. One female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition will be selected.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2019 NCAA Women's College Cup® championships in December.