United Athletic Conference

 

California Baptist's Ari Coronado and UT Rio Grande Valley's Maile Lunardi were selected as the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Feb. 1 through Feb. 7, respectively.

 

Coronado, a junior forward from Woodland, Calif., led her squad to an undefeated week behind four total points in the Lancers' two wins. In CBU's win over St. Katherine, Coronado recorded two assists in the first half to jump-start the offense as they went on to win 5-0. She also scored her seventh collegiate goal as she put in the game-winner to lead the Lancers to a big road win over Pacific.

 

Lunardi, a junior goalkeeper from Highland Park, Ill., posted her second-career shutout as she led the Vaqueros to a pair of road wins. Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, she collected four saves including a huge stop in the 82nd minute that kept the game at a 1-1 tie. She backed up that performance with a career-high six saves and a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Incarnate Word.

 

Other offensive nominees: Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths knocked in the single Trailblazer goal during their home opener against Gonzaga… Seattle U's Leahi Manthei scored the Redhawks' lone goal in their hard-fought battle against a solid Pac-12 team in Washington State… UT Rio Grande Valley's Anna Frida Groedem tallied her first-career goal in her debut outing as the Vaqueros took down Texas A&M-Corpus Christi… Utah Valley's Sadie Brockbank opened her junior campaign with a two-goal outing in a win over Florida Atlantic on top of managing a perfect 1.000 shot on goal percentage for the week.

 

Other defensive nominees: California Baptist's Erin Gallagher held down the Lancers' backline in a shutout win over St. Katherine and played a major role in the win over Pacific... Dixie State's Tess Donaldson battled with a strong Gonzaga front line in the Trailblazers' season opener… Utah Valley's Syndey Bushman helped limit UVU opponents to just two goals over two matches while adding a goal of her own against FAU.

 

With the season now in full swing, all eight WAC teams are back in action. A pair of Wednesday matches kick things off as Chicago State faces off with Valaparaiso and UT Rio Grande Valley hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Dixie State, Grand Canyon and NM State all hit the pitch on Thursday with the Trailblazers hosting Utah, the Lopes hosting Arizona State and the Aggies battling with rival UTEP.

 

Seattle U opens their week on Friday as they travel across town to take on Washington. On Saturday, Chicago State sees Northern Illinois, California Baptist is on the road against Loyola Marymount, NM State takes on Arizona and Utah Valley travels to El Paso, Texas, to take on UTEP. A trio of matches wrap things up on Sunday as UT Rio Grande Valley clashes with UTSA, Dixie State hosts Southern Utah and Grand Canyon visits Arizona State for its second matchup of the week with the Sun Devils.

 

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.

 

Utah Valley's Amber Tripp and Seattle U's Michelle Adam were selected as the WAC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's eight head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.

 

Tripp is joined on the Preseason All-WAC team by teammates Jenna Shepard, Katie Haskins and Isabel Jones-Dawe. Adam was one of two Redhawks honored as teammate Leahi Manthei was also recognized. Grand Canyon also had two players honored as Lindsey Prokop and Marleen Schmimmer represented the Lopes. Also earning honors were California Baptist's Erin Gallagher, Chicago State's Sara Quevedo and UT Rio Grande Valley's Emily Zapata.

 

 

Dixie State head coach Molly Rouse will lead the Trailblazers into their Division I era after serving two seasons at an assistant at Minnesota. Also donning a new color, but not new to the WAC, is Grand Canyon head coach Chris Cissell, who came to GCU after nine seasons at Kansas City, where he claimed 102 victories, three WAC regular-season titles and two WAC Coach of the Year honors.

 

The 2020-21 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament will feature the six eligible teams on April 13, 17, and 19 at GCU Stadium in Phoenix. The top two teams in the regular-season standings will receive byes straight to the semifinals. 

 

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. The nationwide search for a head coach is ongoing and the finalist will be named this spring, allowing for a full year of recruitment before beginning the inaugural soccer season.

 

On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the near future. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin were all offered and accepted membership invitations and will join the WAC on July 1, 2021. Southern Utah also received and accepted a membership invitation, and will join the league on July 1, 2022. With the additions, the WAC will have six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and three schools in Utah, also a national best.