This Week in WAC Women's Soccer - Aug. 21
This Week in WAC Women's Soccer - Aug. 21
2019 WAC PRESEASON POLL AND AWARDS
Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2019 Western Athletic Conference women's soccer title and Kansas City's Rylan Childers and Abby Small have been selected WAC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year respectively. The league's nine head coaches selected these honors and could not vote for student-athletes from their own team.
After winning the WAC tournament in 2018 and making their fourth trip to the NCAA tournament, the Redhawks claimed the top spot in the 2019 preseason rankings with six first-place votes and 61 total points. Defending regular season champion Kansas City was voted second, garnering two first-place votes and 52 total points. UT Rio Grande Valley finished third in the poll with 48 total points. Only two points behind was Utah Valley while Grand Canyon came in fifth with 34 points. CSU Bakersfield snagged sixth with 31 total points. NM State and California Baptist tied for seventh followed by Chicago State to round out the preseason poll.
The preseason all-conference team consisted of 11 student-athletes spread amongst five different schools. In addition to Childers and Small, Kansas City added a third selection in defender Halle Hamilton. UT Rio Grande Valley claimed three selections as well as forwards Emily Zapata and Sarah Bonney and goalkeeper Kinga Szemik represented the Vaqueros. Preseason favorite Seattle U claimed two spots in forward Jessie Ray and defender Rachel Bowler. Defender Hannah Bruce and midfielder Breanna DeWaal represented Utah Valley while Chicago State's Sara Quevedo picked up the third forward spot.
WAC REGULAR SEASON FORMAT
Each WAC team will play a single round robin format of eight matches vs. conference opponents. Conference play will begin on Friday, Oct. 4 and continue through Nov. 2. Teams will get three points for a win and one point for a tie during WAC matches.
2019 WAC TOURNAMENT
The WAC Women's Soccer Tournament will be held in Seattle, Wash., Nov. 6, 8 and 10, hosted by Seattle U. The top six eligible teams will participate.
2018 WAC RECORDS
– Utah Valley forward Sadie Brockbank's four goals in WAC play tie her with six others for most goals scored in a season in conference matches.
– California Baptist goalkeeper Carissa Christensen allowed only seven goals last year. Joining Nevada's Caitlin Holmes for fewest goals allowed in a season.
– With 72 saves in WAC matches, Chicago State goalkeeper Judith Sorribes now holds the record for most saves in WAC matches, besting the old record of 70 saves.
– Kansas City's 7 shutouts in conference play tied the record for most shutouts in WAC matches for a single season. (2015 Seattle U, 2006 Fresno State)
– Kansas City's Lexie Howard cracked the top 10 in career goals scored with 37, tying two others for 10th all time. (Maren Hendershot, BYU & Lauren Hansen, Utah State)
– Chicago State goalie Audra Wisehart finished her career with 319 saves, making her third all time in saves.
OPPORTUNITY TO IMPRESS
WAC teams will play in seven matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Four matches hosted by WAC schools will be available to stream on the WAC Digital Network at
www.wacsports.com/watch.