United Athletic Conference

 

Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths and UT Rio Grande Valley's Maile Lunardi were selected as the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for March 8 through March 14.

 

Griffiths, a redshirt junior forward from Gilbert, Ariz., posted an astounding 10 points across a pair of matches against Chicago State. On Thursday, Griffiths recorded a hat trick to help the Trailblazers to their first Division I win in program history. She followed that performance with a brace on Saturday to carry the Trailblazers to a 4-0 victory.

 

Lunardi, a junior from Highland Park, Ill., tallied her fifth shutout of the season while leading the Vaqueros to a perfect 2-0 weekend. Against NM State on Thursday, she collected a pair of second-half saves to help UTRGV to a 2-1 win over the Aggies. She then posted the sixth shutout of her career as she collected two saves in a 1-0 victory.

 

Other offensive nominees: California Baptist's Amy Aquino scored the game-winner in CBU's 2-1 win over Utah Valley on Thursday… Grand Canyon's Jaycee Iranshad assisted on the game-winner in the Lopes 2-1 win over Seattle U on Saturday while also adding a goal for GCU on Thursday… Seattle U's Sydney Carr tallied a hat trick as she led the Redhawks to a 4-2 victory over Grand Canyon on Thursday… UT Rio Grande Valley's Emily Zapata scored a pair of game-winning goals to carry the Vaqueros to a series sweep of NM State last week.

 

Other defensive nominees: California Baptist's Romy Salvador collected seven saves as she allowed just one goal in 200 minutes in net for the Lancers… Dixie State's Adelle Brown was in goal for a pair of Trailblazer wins as she held Chicago State scoreless in both matches… Grand Canyon's Jordan Ferguson secured nine saves last week, including six stops in her first career start to lead the Lopes to a win on Saturday… Utah Valley's Sydney Bushman anchored a Wolverine back-line that gave up just one goal in 200 minutes of play against California Baptist.

 

One month into the conference schedule, it's a three-way tie for first place atop the Western Athletic Conference women's soccer standings. Seattle U, California Baptist, and Utah Valley all have 16 points to this point in the league season, with Seattle U and California Baptist posting identical 5-1-1 WAC records so far. UVU also has five conference wins and a tie, but the Wolverines have two losses. UT Rio Grande Valley sits at the .500 mark in league play with a 3-3-1 record for 10 points, and NM State has nine points from its 3-4-0 WAC mark.

 

After the conference saw just three hat tricks in the first six weeks of the season, two players netted three goals in a single game this past week. Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths, the TicketSmarter Offensive Player of the Week (see above), and Seattle U's Sydney Carr both collected three-goal performances this past week against Chicago State and Grand Canyon, respectively... Carr's three-goal week pushed her into the NCAA national rankings in goals scored, lifting her season total to six tallies which ranks 15th.

 

California Baptist maintains its WAC lead in goals (22), assists (21), points (65), goals per game (2.44), assists per game (2.33), points per game (7.22), and shots per game (18.78), and the Lancers still hold a slight edge over Utah Valley in total shots with 169. CBU, UVU, and UT Rio Grande Valley have all allowed just five goals for the season, with UTRGV and UVU both posting 0.48 team goals-against averages. Utah Valley holds the top spot with six shutouts, while Grand Canyon goalkeepers have registered a WAC-best 57 saves in 2021.

 

Individually, Seattle U's Sydney Carr has taken the conference's point- and goal-scoring lead with 13 points on six goals and an assist, while Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths is second with 11 points on five goals and one helper. Utah Valley's Sadie Brockbank, whose scoreless week moved her down into a third-place tie in points and goals, remains the WAC leader in total shots (43) and shots per game (4.30). California Baptist boasts the top two assist scorers in the conference, with Taylor Summit holding down the top spot with four assists and teammate Ari Coronado adding three helpers. UT Rio Grande Valley keeper Maile Lunardi, a two-time WAC Defensive Player of the Week this season, has taken a slight lead in goals-against average (0.487) while maintaining the conference lead with an .896 save percentage and three shutouts. Isabel Jones-Dawe of Utah Valley (0.492) is a close second in GAA and save percentage (.826).

 

Only one non-conference match remains on the 2020-21 WAC women's soccer docket, and it's an in-state battle tomorrow (Wednesday, March 17) when Utah Valley visits nationally-ranked Brigham Young in the UCCU Crosstown Clash at Provo, Utah.

 

WAC members are 7-14-4 in non-conference matches, with two wins each against Conference USA, the Southland Conference, and non-Division I foes, with one win versus the West Coast Conference.

 

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. Six of the eight soccer-playing members of the WAC will compete in the tournament, as California Baptist and Dixie State are not yet eligible to compete in the championship.

 

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.