United Athletic Conference

Air Force's Elijah Bussey and San José State's Eric Waltz been named Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for April 5 through April 11.

 

Bussey, a sophomore midfielder from Sierra Vista, Ariz., played a crucial role in the Falcons' postseason-clinching wins on the week, tallying three assists in wins over California Baptist and Houston Baptist. On Monday against CBU, he assisted twice as Air Force picked up a 4-1 win. He returned to the pitch on Friday night, assisting once as the Falcons earned a 2-1 win over Houston Baptist. 

 

Waltz, a freshman goalkeeper from San José, Calif., made the most of his first collegiate start in his first collegiate appearance, earning his first collegiate win in a 1-0 result against UNLV on Monday. He stopped all four shots on goal that the Rebels sent his way as the shutout win helped the Spartans clinch the third seed in this week's WAC Men's Soccer Tournament in Las Vegas.

 

Other offensive nominees: California Baptist's Luis Mueller had a goal and two assists in the Lancers' regular-season finale win at Utah Valley on Friday … Grand Canyon's Marios Andreou scored the equalizer in the 74th minute at UNLV to provide the spark as the Lopes earned a 2-1 win to clinch the regular season title … San José State's Rudi Castro helped lead the Spartans' to their fourth-straight win with the lone goal in Monday's 1-0 win over UNLV … UT Rio Grande Valley's Reshaun Walkes scored the game-winner in the Vaqueros' 1-0 win over UIW on Friday.

 

Other defensive nominees: Air Force's Jared Dove averaged 84 minutes on the week to help lead the Falcon defense in a pair of home wins over California Baptist and Houston Baptist … California Baptist's Tim Bernhardsson played all 90 minutes on the back line as the Lancers held Utah Valley to just five shots on goal in a 4-1 win … Grand Canyon's Esai Easley helped the Lopes defense hold UNLV to just three shots as GCU won the regular season title with a 2-1 win in Las Vegas … UT Rio Grande Valley's Trevor Schneider recorded his third shutout of the season in a 1-0 win over UIW on Friday afternoon.

 

It's tourney time as six teams head to Las Vegas for the 2020-21 WAC Men's Soccer Tournament. The action begins on Tuesday morning with fifth-seed Seattle U taking on fourth-seed, and host, UNLV at 11 a.m. PT. Sixth-seed Air Force then faces off with third-seeded 

San José State at 2:30 p.m. PT. Grand Canyon earned the top seed and will take on the winner of the first match on Thursday at 11 a.m. PT with second-seed UT Rio Grande Valley taking on the winner of AF/SJSU at 2:30 p.m. PT. Thursday's semifinal winners will match up on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT for the WAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament. All matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ within the United States and on the WAC Digital Network for international viewers. 

 

California Baptist leds the league in shots (157) and goals (20) while 

San José State holds the lead in points (57), assists (25) and assists per game (3.12). Regular season champion Grand Canyon has the lead in goals per game (2.43) and least goals allowed (0.86). UT Rio Grande Valley is the leader in goals against average (0.84), Houston Baptist holds the lead in saves (48) and UNLV is the leader in shutouts (5).

 

Individually, CBU's Luis Mueller has the lead in shots (36) while SU's Noe Meza is the leader in shots per game (3.33). UTRGV's William Akio is the leader in points (17), points per game (1.89), goals (7), goals per game (0.78) and game-winning goals (3). SJSU's Rudi Castro holds the top spot in assists (9) and assists per game (1.12). In net, UNLV's Miguel Duenas Jr. is the leader in goals against average (0.46), save percentage (.886) and shutouts (5) while SU's Akili Kasim is the leader in saves (39) and saves per game (4.88).

 

Grand Canyon moved all the way up to fourth in the NCAA RPI this week. San José State is the WAC's second-highest squad, coming in at 35th with UT Rio Grande Valley moving down to 47th.

 

For the first time this season, the WAC has two teams in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 as Grand Canyon moved up one spot to 15th and UT Rio Grande Valley entered the poll at 25th.  GCU is also 17th in the College Soccer News Top 25 and  23rd in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 30. UTRGV is among those receiving votes in the CSN 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 San José State in sixth, UNLV in seventh, Seattle U in eighth and California Baptist in ninth.

 

Utah Valley has announced former US National Team member Kyle Beckerman as its next head coach. Beckerman retired after a monumentally successful 21-year professional and international career in December. He spent 14 of those seasons in Utah with Real Salt Lake, where he was a captain and led the team to a 2009 MLS Cup. He also had 58 caps as a member of the U.S. National Team, including starting appearances in the 2014 World Cup. In 2020, he was named one of Major League Soccer's 25 Greatest Players of all-time.

 

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.

 

Due to COVID-19 protocals, Seattle U has canceled their final match of the season, scheduled for April 9 at San José State.

 

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.

 

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.