United Athletic Conference

 

Utah Valley's Julianna Carter and Seattle U's Madison Waguespack were selected as the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Feb. 22 through Feb. 28, respectively.

 

Carter, a junior from Jasper, Texas, finished with five points on the week as she led the Wolverines to a sweep of NM State. On Thursday, Carter scored the eventual game-winner against the Aggies as she fired in a rebound off the left side in the 21st minute. She then anchored the UVU offense in its 4-0 win on Saturday, assisting the game-winner while also scoring a goal of her own.

 

Waguespack, a sophomore from Round Rock, Texas, collected a pair of clean sheets as she led the Redhawks to a 2-0 week. Seattle U needed every one of Waguespack's nine saves last week as it won both its matches by a score of 1-0. The two shutouts are Waguespack's first two of the season, giving her seven career shutouts.

 

Other offensive nominees: NM State's Xitlaly Hernandez netted the sixth hat trick in Aggie history as she carried her team to a 6-1 win over Chicago State on Monday… Seattle U's Sydney Carr led the Redhawks to a 3-0 week as she finished with a pair of goals, including the game-winner against California Baptist on Wednesday… UT Rio Grande Valley's Madeline Von Moeller scored her first-career goal as she netted the game-winner against Chicago State on Thursday.

 

Other defensive nominees: Utah Valley's Megan Sullivan anchored the Wolverine defense to two shutouts while giving up only five shots on goal across the two matches… UT Rio Grande Valley's Maile Lunardi collected three saves to help UTRGV to its fourth shutout of the season in a win over Chicago State.

 

All eight teams will be in action for conference affairs during week three of the WAC conference schedule this coming weekend. Six of those squads will be involved in two-match series, with Grand Canyon and NM State playing each other just once on Saturday in Phoenix, Ariz. The other three series will feature Chicago State at California Baptist, Utah Valley at UT Rio Grande Valley, and Seattle U visiting Dixie State.

 

So far through two weeks of the conference slate, three teams have swept their two-game weekend series, while another (Seattle U) has taken four of the possible six points away from its set with one win and one tie (at UT Rio Grande Valley). Only once have two teams divided their series with a single win each (Grand Canyon and Utah Valley). Dixie State and Grand Canyon had their two-game weekend series postponed last weekend, with make-up dates still to be determined.

 

California Baptist remains the WAC leader in goals (13), assists (12), points (38), goals per game (2.17), and shots per game (18.17), and the Lancers rank second in total shots (109). Utah Valley, which has overtaken California Baptist for the league lead in shots with 119 through seven matches, and NM State have both eclipsed the double-figure total in goals scored with 12 apiece and an average of 1.71 per game. UVU and UT Rio Grande Valley are tied atop the circuit with just three goals allowed through seven contests, an average of 0.43 goals against per match.

 

Individually, Utah Valley's Sadie Brockbank is still the leader in shots (30) and has moved into a tie for the conference lead in goals scored with four. Brockbank is now the WAC frontrunner with nine points. NM State's Xitlaly Hernandez remains tied for the conference lead in goals. A six-way tie remains 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. Isabel Jones-Dawe of Utah Valley (0.407) and Maile Lunardi of UT Rio Grande Valley (0.413) are neck-and-neck for the lead in goals-against average, with Lunardi owning a WAC-leading three shutouts and .906 save percentage.

 

Only one non-conference match remains on the 2020-21 WAC women's soccer docket, and it's an in-state battle in just over two weeks. Utah Valley takes on nationally-ranked Brigham Young in the UCCU Crosstown Clash at Provo, Utah, on March 17.

 

WAC members have a 7-14-4 record in non-conference matches so far this season, with two wins each against Conference USA, the Southland Conference, and non-Division I foes, with the other non-league win coming versus the West Coast Conference.

 

Three WAC member schools have played home games away from home this season, as California Baptist, NM State, and Utah Valley have all hosted games at venues aside from their regular home venues. California Baptist is playing almost its entire home schedule at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, Calif., a 35-mile one-way trip from its campus in Riverside, while NM State will end up playing its entire home slate at University Field on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso, some 40 miles away. Utah Valley hosted NM State for a two-match weekend series at the nearby Zions Bank Stadium last weekend, with the Wolverines sweeping the Aggies with a pair of shutout victories.

 

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.