United Athletic Conference

 

NM State's Shea O'Connor and California Baptist's Romy Salvador were selected as the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Feb. 15 through Feb. 21, respectively.

 

O'Connor, a senior from Eugene, Ore., recorded the Aggies' first hat trick since 2017 as NM State took down Chicago State 5-0 late Saturday night. O'Connor opened the flood gates for the Aggies with all three of her goals coming in an eight-minute window during the second half against the Cougars. She tallied her first goal in the 64th minute off a free kick. O'Connor followed that with a pair of goals assisted by Hannah Leitner in the 65th minute and 72nd minute to ultimately put the game out of reach for Chicago State.

 

Salvador, a senior from Lyon, France, led the Lancers to a 2-0 start in WAC play this weekend as she played all 180 minutes while allowing just one goal against Dixie State. Salvador notched her second shutout of the season as she tallied three saves in CBU's second meeting with the Trailblazers. On Saturday, she also earned a rare goalkeeper assist as she set up Rola Badawiya for the goal behind a booming kick.

 

Other offensive nominees: California Baptist's Amy Aquino knocked in a pair of goals and added an assist to help the Lancers earn the sweep of Dixie State… Dixie State's Kelsey Cook recorded the Trailblazers' only goal of the weekend as she scored in the 48th minute against CBU… Grand Canyon's Marleen Schimmer scored her first goal of the year as she put a penalty kick in the back of the net to lift the Lopes past Utah Valley... Seattle U's Sydney Carr scored the lone Redhawk goal as SU went on to tie with UT Rio Grande Valley… UT Rio Grande Valley's Emily Zapata notched her first goal of the season as she helped the Vaqueros earn the tie with Seattle U… Utah Valley's Julianna Carter tabbed the game-winner in a 1-0 win over GCU as she connected on a shot in the 77th minute.

 

Other defensive nominees: Dixie State's Hollee Herick recorded a career-high nine saves against California Baptist on Thursday… Grand Canyon's Hayden Wallace picked up her first career win and shutout in Saturday's 1-0  win over Utah Valley... UT Rio Grande Valley's Maile Lunardi also managed a career-high nine saves, including a big save late in the second half to help the Vaqueros earn the draw with Seattle U… Utah Valley's Kylie Tuimaualuga collected five saves and allowed only one goal during nearly 77 minutes in goal against Grand Canyon.

 

Week two of (almost) exclusive Western Athletic Conference action takes place this weekend, with four of the eight conference squads scheduled to play two-match league series on Thursday (Feb. 25) and Saturday (Feb. 27). A total of seven fixtures are on the ledger this week, with a non-league counter on Wednesday and single league match-ups between Chicago State and UT Rio Grande Valley (Thursday) and California Baptist and Seattle U (Saturday) on tap. Two-game series match-ups this coming week include feature NM State at Utah Valley and Grand Canyon at Dixie State.

 

Through the first two weeks of the season, California Baptist is the leader in shots (99), points (38), goals (13), goals per game (2.60), assists (12) and assists per game (2.40). The Lancers are also tied with UT Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley in goals allowed (3). UTRGV holds the best goals against average (0.23) and has the most shutouts (3). Meanwhile, Utah Valley paces the conference in corner kicks (30).

 

Individually, Utah Valley's Sadie Brockbank is the leader in shots (13) while NM State's Xitlaly Hernandez leads the conference in goals (4) and points (8). There is a six-way tie for the lead in assists as CBU's Rola Badawiya, Ari Coronado and Madison Sonerholm, Dixie State's Kelsey Cook and NM State's Hannah Leitner each have two apiece. UTRGV's Gina Steiner holds the lead in game-winning goals (2) and her teammate Maile Lunardi has the lead in save percentage (.897) and shutouts (3). Isabel Jones-Dawe of Utah Valley hoists the best goals against average (0.45) while Grand Canyon's Hayden Wallace has the most saves on the year with 40.

 

Only two non-conference matches remain on the 2020-21 WAC women's soccer docket, and both are in-state battles. Seattle U plays the penultimate non-league contest of the year on Wednesday against nearby NAIA foe Northwest University, while Utah Valley takes on nationally-ranked Brigham Young in the UCCU Crosstown Clash at Provo, Utah, on March 17.

 

WAC members have a 6-14-4 record in non-conference matches so far this season, with two wins each against Conference USA and the Southland Conference, and one apiece versus the West Coast Conference and non-Division I foes.

 

Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2020-21 Western Athletic Conference women's soccer title in a vote of the league's eight head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.

 

The Redhawks received five of eight first-place votes for 46 total points to earn the preseason nod by just two points over Utah Valley, who collected the remaining three first-place votes and 44 points. California Baptist was picked third with 37 points, followed by Grand Canyon in fourth with 31 points. UT Rio Grande Valley is predicted fifth with 25 points, followed by NM State in sixth, Dixie State in seventh and Chicago State in eighth.