United Athletic Conference

Complete release (PDF)

 

The Grand Canyon Lopes are the 2021 WAC Tournament Champions. The Lopes went through Lamar with a 2-1 win in the semifinals and took down Utah Valley 3-0 to win the championship.

 

Lindsey Prokop was named tournament MVP after scoring the game winner in their 2-1 win over Lamar and scored the opening goal in their championship match. It is by no means a one man show, Mina Ghazizadeh recorded two assists in the championship match. WAC offensive player of the year Marleen Schimmer also played a big role bombarding the opposing teams' goal totaling 10 shots throughout two matches.

 

The Grand Canyon Lopes learned Monday that they will be facing Southern California in the First Round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.

 

The Lopes (16-3-2, 7-1-2) earned the WAC's automatic qualification by defeating Utah Valley in the WAC Tournament Championship this past Sunday. Grand Canyon has been showing aggressive offense this season scoring a team total of 32 goals in conference play and 60 for the whole season. Schimmer is the team's main offensive actress, leading the league with 28 points as she recorded nine goals and 10 assists. Gianna Gourley also contributed big to the Lopes' offense scoring a total of eight goals, second in the league standings.

 

Grand Canyon will take on USC (8-1-2) from PAC-12. The Trojans has an offense led by junior midfielder Croix Bethune who is second on Pac-12 standings in points with 22 after recording eight goals and six assists in conference play.

 

The Lopes meet with USC in their home Soni Mcalister Field at Los Angeles, Calif., Nov. on Saturday. The time of match is to be declared.

 

The semifinal and final rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be hosted by the defending champions, Santa Clara, at the Stevens Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif., Dec. 3 and 5.

 

The Western Athletic Conference announced its All-WAC women's soccer teams and major awards as selected by the league's 12 head coaches. Grand Canyon swept three out of four major awards as Marleen Schimmer was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year and her teammate Hannah Edwards the WAC Defensive Player of the Year. Their coach Chris Cissell earned the WAC Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive year. Utah Valley's Breanna Eves became the only non-Lope to get an award as she is named WAC Freshman of the Year.

 

Following the WAC tournament Grand Canyon keeps their spot as league leaders in shots (367), points (178), goals (60), assists (58), and least goals against average (0.82). Utah Valley is the leader in shutouts (11) and corner kicks (119). Dixie State leads the league in saves (137). 

 

Individually, Grand Canyon's Schimmer is the league's top scorer (13). Schimmer is also the WAC leader in total shots (110), shots on goal (51), assists (14) and points (40). In the net, Lamar's Nicole Panis is the leader in saves (116). Kayla Gonzales is the leader in saves per game (7). Grand Canyon's Jordan Ferguson led the least goals against average (0.77) and save percentage (.824). 

 

Stephen F. Austin and Grand Canyon secured the Southwest and West Division titles, respectively, and will proceed to the WAC tournament with a first-round bye.

 

The Lumberjacks managed to clinch the Southwest Division title with two matches to spare. They locked their spot at the top of the division with 24 points.

 

It took all ten matches for the Lopes to secure the West Division title. They were tied for first with Utah Valley until they met in the last match of the regular season. The Lopes snagged the title with a 6-2 win at home.

 

Seattle U's Sydney Carr and UVU's Jenna Shephard were selected as the WAC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's 12 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.

 

Carr represented the Redhawks on the Preseason All-WAC team whole Shephard was joined by teammates Sadie Brockback, Heather Stainbrook and Amber Tripp. California Baptist had two players honored as Erin Gallagher and Romy Salvador represented the Lancers. Also earning honors were Abilene Christian's Christina Arteaga, Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths, Grand Canyon's Marleen Schimmer and Stephen F. Austin's Jamie Jezierski. 

 

The Western Athletic Conference is a little bit bigger this season as Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin have all joined the party. Due to the increase from eight teams to 12 teams, the league will play in a divisional format this season with the top three teams from each division advancing to the WAC Tournament.

 

WAC women's soccer teams will take on some of the top teams in the nation this season with 17 non-conference games against opponents that participated in the 2020-21 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament in North Carolina. Stephen F. Austin has the most daunting schedule, facing off against four postseason opponents. GCU is second with three matches scheduled against NCAA tournament teams. Sam Houston and Seattle U have two each.

 

As Tarleton continues its growth to NCAA Division I, the athletics department will be adding women's soccer with the expectation to begin play in the fall of 2022. Southern Utah will also join the WAC, with the Thunderbirds moving all their athletic grams from the Big Sky Conference to the WAC effective July 1, 2022.