United Athletic Conference

Grand Canyon's Maximilian Moeller and San José State's David Sweeney have been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for March 22 through March 28.

 

Moeller, a freshman forward from Erfurt, Germany, record the Lopes' first hat trick since 2017 in a 5-1 win over Dixie State on Friday. With GCU leading 2-1, he scored his first goal of the game, and third of the season, in the 63rd minute. He followed that up just 97 seconds later with his second goal and just over six minutes later, completed the hat trick with his fifth goal of the season for GCU's fifth goal of the match.

 

Sweeney, a sophomore goalkeeper from Morgan Hill, Calif., made three saves to earn his first shutout of the season in a 4-0 win at California Baptist. On the season, he boasts a 1.10 goals against average and has been in goal for every minute of the Spartans' season.

 

Other offensive nominees: San José State's Willy Miranda recorded the hat trick, the Spartans' first since 2015, in a 4-0 win at California Baptist … UT Rio Grande Valley's William Akio recorded his third multi-goal match of the season with a pair of goals in the Vaqueros' 3-1 win over Air Force.

 

Other defensive nominees: Grand Canyon's Pedro Mondrago helped the Lopes defense earn a 5-1 win at home over Dixie State … UNLV's Gabriel Claudio led the Rebels to their fourth shutout in the last six matches with a 1-0 win over California Baptist … UT Rio Grande Valley's Trevor Schneider made two saves in a 3-1 win over Air Force.

 

With limited time remaining in the regular season, Wednesday will be the big day around the WAC with Air Force traveling to UIW, UNLV heading up the road to Dixie State, Seattle U heading to SoCal to take on California Baptist, UT Rio Grande Valley traveling to Houston Baptist and San José State traveling to Utah Valley. Saturday will also feature a rescheduled game as UIW makes the trip to the Bay Area to take on San José State.

 

Seattle U leads the league in shots (138), points (50), goals (17), assists (16) and saves (40). Grand Canyon is the leader in goals per game (2.50) and San José State is the leader in assists per game (2.80). On defense, UT Rio Grande Valley has the lead in goals allowed (4) and goals against average (0.62). UNLV has the lead with four shutouts on the year.

 

Individually, CBU's Luis Mueller and SU's Noe Meza are tied for the lead in shots (28) while Meza has the lead in shots per game (3.50).  UTRGV's William Akio is the leader in points (13), points per game (2.17), goals (6), goals per game (1.00) and game-winning goals. SJSU's Rudy Castro holds the lead in assists (5) and assists per game (1.00). In net, UNLV's Miguel Duenas Jr. has the lead in goals against average (0.18), save percentage (.950) and shutouts (4). SU's Akili Kasim holds the lead in saves (39) while AF's Kainoa Likewise is the leader in saves per game (5.00).

 

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.

 

Utah Valley head coach Greg Maas announced his resignation on March 28 to pursue other career opportunities. Associate head coach Michael Chesler has been named interim head coach.

 

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 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.

 

Utah Valley was forced to take a break in action due to positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contact tracing that wiped out UVU's matches against Dixie State and Seattle U.

 

Five WAC teams find themselves in the top 100 of the latest NCAA RPI Rankings with three of those schools in the top 50. UT Rio Grande Valley ranks eighth nationally, followed by Grand Canyon in 16th and San José State at 45.

 

Grand Canyon once again moved up four spots in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, coming in at 16th. The Lopes are also 23rd in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and 22nd in the College Soccer News Top 30. Seattle U is among those receiving votes in both the USC Top 25 and CSN Top 30 while UT Rio Grande Valley is receiving votes in the USC Top 25.

 

Grand Canyon is the top WAC program in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25, coming in at third. UT Rio Grande Valley is fourth, followed by Seattle U in sixth, UNLV in eighth, California Baptist in ninth and San José State in 10th.

 

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.