United Athletic Conference

San José State's Rudi Castro and UNLV's Miguel Duenas Jr. have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for February 15 through February 21.

 

Castro, a senior forward from San José, Calif., tallied a pair of assists to help lead the Spartans to a season-opening win over Dixie State on Saturday. After the Trailblazers scored an early goal to take the lead, he assisted on the equalizer in the 79th minute and then fed in a pass for the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute to help SJSU secure the win.

 

Duenas, a sophomore goalkeeper from Las Vegas, posted a shutout in his first collegiate game, making five saves as part of a double-overtime scoreless draw against Air Force. He faced 11 shots on the game, stopping five to secure the draw.

 

Other offensive nominees: Dixie State's Idris Alabi opened up the scoring against San José State, scoring the Trailblazers' first-ever Division I goal … Grand Canyon's Maximilian Moeller scored the first Lopes' goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Houston Baptist. 

 

Other defensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Ariel Aguas played all 90 minutes in a 2-1 win over Houston Baptist, helping to anchor the Lopes defense in the win … San José State's Jamal Adam helped lock down the Spartan defense after allowing an early goal and then scored a goal of his own in the 79th minute to help SJSU get the road win.

 

After seeing schedule adjustments due to both the pandemic and the Texas freeze, the schedule looks to be back on track this week. UT Rio Grande Valley and California Baptist will kick things off on Wednesday night in a rescheduled match from over the weekend. CBU will then hit the road and travel to Houston to take on HBU. Dixie State will look for its first WAC win in San Antonio when the Trailblazers take on UIW. Utah Valley will open up the 2020-21 season at Air Force, UNLV treks to Seattle U and Grand Canyon heads to the Bay Area to take on San José State

 

Two weeks into the season, Seattle U leads the league in shots (55), points (17), goals (6), saves (16) and corners (17) and are tied with Air Force for the lead in assists (5). Air Force is also tied with UT Rio Grande Valley for the lead in goals allowed (0), goals against average (0.00) and save percentage (1.00) and the Falcons hold the lead in shuouts (2). UIW has the lead in goals per game (3.00) and assists per game (3.00).

 

Indvidiually, SU's Noe Meza holds the lead in shots (12) while teammate Jesse Ortiz is tied for CBU's Luis Mueller for the lead in pints (4) and goals (2). UNLV's Bailey Letherman and AF's Quinn Matulis are tied for the led in assists (2). Three keepers, UNLV's Miguel Duenas Jr., UTRGV's Trevor Schneider and AF's Kainoa Likewise, are tied for the lead in goals against average (0.00) and save percentage (1.000). SU's Akili Kasim has the lead in saves (16) while Likewise has the lead in shutouts (2). 

 

Grand Canyon head coach Schellas Hyndman announced that this spring season will be the final one of his successful career. In addition to over 500 collegiate wins at Eastern Illinois, SMU and GCU, he was head coach at FC Dallas for six years, earning 2010 MLS Coach of the Year honors.

 

A positive COVID-19 test within the Dixie State men's soccer program forced the Trailblazers to cancel a pair of games in California. DSU's non-conference match at San Diego State on Feb. 11 and its WAC match at California Baptist on Feb. 13 were both scrapped.

 

Due to restrictions in Santa Clara County that did not allow San José State to practice for much of January, the Spartans have elected not to play their first two WAC games of the season. The affected matches include UIW on Feb. 6 and at Air Force on Feb. 13. 

 

Positive COVID-19 test results have forced California Baptist to cancel its first two matches of the season. The Lancers were scheduled to open the 2020-21 season on Wednesday at Pacific before visiting Las Vegas for the WAC opener against UNLV. It was later announced that the CBU at UNLV match will now take place on March 22 in Las Vegas.

 

Seattle U is ranked 19th in the latest College Soccer News Top 30. The United Soccer Coaches Top 25 is expected to return on Feb. 23.

 

The 2020-21 season marks the initial WAC campaign for three head coaches in the league. Dixie State head coach Jonny Broadhead leads the Trailblazers into the Division I era in his fourth season in St. George. UIW's Kiki Lara returns to his alma mater after leading Eastern Illinois. UT Rio Grande Valley's Bryheem Hancock was the final coach hired for the season, coming to the valley in November after serving as head coach at Radford for the last three seasons.

 

Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2020-21 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 Redhawks received nine of 11 first-place votes and 98 total points to earn the preseason nod. Utah Valley was selected second with a first-place vote and 81 points. Air Force was selected third with 79 points, followed by Grand Canyon, who earned fourth with the final first-place vote and 65 total points. UNLV was selected fifth with 63 points, followed by San José State in sixth points. California Baptist earned the seventh spot with 54 points, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley in eighth, Houston Baptist in ninth, UIW in 10th and newcomer Dixie State in 11th. 

 

Seattle U's Noe Meza and Alex Acton-Petronotis 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.

 

Meza and Acton-Petronotis were joined on the Preseason All-WAC squad by teammates James Morris and Akili Kasim. San José State was the only other team with multiple players honored as forward Rudi Castro and midfielder Max Allen each picked up the preseason recognition. Also earning recognition were Air Force's Tristan Trager, Grand Canyon's Esai Easley, UNLV's Billy Jones, UT Rio Grande Valley's William Akio and Utah Valley's Mark Brown.

 

The 2020-21 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament will feature the top six teams on April 13, 17, and 19 at Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas. The top two teams in the regular-season standings will receive byes straight to the semifinals.